DAVID BOIES?
Posted on 07/24/2003 2:41:23 AM PDT by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - The lawyer who represented Al Gore in the hotly contested Florida post-election recount in 2000 is now facing ethics charges in what one local newspaper described as a "bizarre" case.
The Florida Bar's grievance committee found probable cause to charge David Boies with three counts of ethics violations. The ruling on July 10 accused Boies of misconduct, giving financial assistance to a client and improperly supervising other lawyers.
The bar's finding is comparable to an indictment, and a judge appointed by the Florida Supreme Court will hear the case. No timeline for resolving the matter has been set.
Boies could be barred from appearing in state courts in Florida if the bar finds him guilty of the charges. He is not currently licensed to practice law in the state, so he cannot be formally disbarred. However, Boies is allowed to practice in the state on a case-by-case basis.
Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), called the charges against Boies "very strong."
"The bar is notorious for not punishing wayward lawyers. The fact that this case has gone this far with a lawyer as prominent as David Boies really underscores the seriousness of these charges," Boehm told CNSNews.com. The NLPC is a conservative legal watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.
In addition to representing Gore in the losing recount effort, Boies headed the federal government's anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft and has been consistently recognized as one of the nation's most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal.
Corporations such as CBS, DuPont and the New York Yankees have also been among Boies' clients.
Boies' office refused to comment on the ethics charges when contacted by CNSNews.com on Wednesday, but James Fox Miller of Fort Lauderdale, a business partner of Boies, was quoted by the Palm Beach Post Saturday as saying: "It's a shame [Boies has] been accused of something like this, and I'm upset about it."
Miller, the former head of the Florida Bar, said that Boies had never been censured during his legal career, which has lasted more than 30 years.
'Bizarre legal battle'
Boies' ethics charges stem from what the Palm Beach Post called a "bizarre legal battle" involving a local dispute between two lawn-care companies competing for the lucrative Palm Beach territory.
The landscaping legal woes that led to Boies' ethics charges originated in a breach of contract dispute between the companies in 1996, in which Boies represented one of the parties.
The legal battle between Amy Habie, owner of Nical of Palm Beach, Inc., and Scott and Carol Lewis of Scott Lewis Gardening & Trimming has been waging for seven years. The underlying dispute was settled in 1998, but post-settlement disputes continue over legal compliance issues.
Boies' Armonk, N.Y.-based firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner provided years' worth of free legal service to Habie while paying other lawyers more than $400,000 in fees. Habie was made a chief financial officer in Boies' law firm, with a salary of $120,000 a year, according to the paper, which quoted court documents.
Repeated suits called 'a sad commentary'
Habie's lawsuits have resulted in her being sanctioned by the courts nine times over the years, including three contempt of court orders, according to Lewis.
Circuit Court Judge David Crow called the series of lawsuits by Boies on Habie's behalf "a sad commentary on the inability of the legal system and the courts of our state to resolve a simple contract dispute, when one is willing to litigate without regard to costs."
But Boies has a family trust that is a part owner of Habie's lawn-care company, holding a minority interest in the company, according to court papers.
Lewis, who has acted as his own attorney in much of the legal proceedings despite having no legal background, is not impressed with Boies' skills as a lawyer.
"I am a gardener," Lewis told CNSNews.com. "Everybody sees David Boies as a genius, and I don't see it. I see Goliath falling.
"Boies wants to be remembered for serving the law, but in this case, he acted above the law," Lewis charged.
State bar has tackled legal legends
Boehm pointed to famed attorney F. Lee Bailey's 2001 disbarment on ethics charges from the Florida Bar as an indication that the bar may not be intimated by Boies' powerful connections. "If I were David Boies, I would be very concerned about the charges," Boehm said.
The impact of being found guilty of the ethics charges on Boies may be mixed, according to Boehm.
"But the public does expect people that have as much influence as Mr. Boies to behave responsibly, and this could have a very negative impact on his career," Boehm added.
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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Not in Democrat circles.
My huge dictionary just dosen't fit in over here by the keyboard.
But for now, don't worry about it.
The only lawyers who would work with that gang would have to likely lean towards unethical behavior to complete the orders from their clients.
Go to iespell.com and get their free spell-checker for iexplorer.
DAVID BOIES?
oxymoron
Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!
Got root?
Circuit Court Judge David Crow called the series of lawsuits by Boies on Habie's behalf "a sad commentary on the inability of the legal system and the courts of our state to resolve a simple contract dispute, when one is willing to litigate without regard to costs."
Hmmm.
David Boise knows technology? That has yet to be proven. His work against Microsoft wasn't all that successful and he was a total train wreck with Napster. A joke.
As far as SCO (AKA Caldera) against IBM? Boise will relive his Napster failure. Caldera, at best, will be a small chip in IBM's windshield. At best.
If a group of lawyers got together and built you a chair to sit in it would be the first time any of them did anything of value.
David Boise is a bottom feeder. But that's his chosen in life.
Yes, were you not aware he actually was the defense lawyer for IBM in a portion of their 30+ years of anti-trust trials? I believe that is where he first made a name for himself.
Yes he lost Napster but no one on earth could have won that case. Linux will be on the Napster hot seat this time, being the ones likely holding the stolen property.
I certainly do not admire the man (and despised him during election 2K), but he simply got the Gore case because of his reputation which was largely built in the tech industry, and which he has smartly retreated back to it appears. Will be interesting to see what happens, as I don't think the possible infractions listed in the article above will have any impact on his new IBM case.
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