http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellit...s=1037645509099
Saturday, January 20, 2007
When a lawyer needs a lawyer
Partners make career of representing colleagues charged with misconduct
By Titan Barksdale
JOURNAL REPORTER
For lawyers who have been formally charged with professional misconduct, chances are the names David Freedman and Dudley Witt sound familiar.
During their 18 years as partners in Winston-Salem, Freedman and Witt have defended lawyers, public officials, teachers and law-enforcement officers. Their most recent clients that have drawn state and national attention are Mike Nifong, the district attorney for Durham County, and Mike Decker, a former state representative.
Freedman also represents Zack Bynum, a former lawyer in Forsyth County who faces charges of embezzling millions of dollars, and has represented Gary Thomas, the former Forsyth County clerk of court who pleaded guilty to embezzlement. And Freedman won acquittal for state Rep. Larry Womble, who was charged with extortion while he was an alderman.
About 15 years ago, the two Winston-Salem lawyers started defending other lawyers against charges of misconduct before the N.C. State Bar. That work paved the way for them to become the go-to guys for lawyers in trouble across the state, they said.
"When you represent attorneys who are peers or older than you, there's a certain deference you pay because they are older than you and people who you've learned from," Freedman said.
snip
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-te.sp.duke20jan20,0,5096854.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines
From the Baltimore Sun
Players' parents turn anger at Duke
Lacrosse team supporters say university misled them, abandoned team members
By Jeff Barker
Sun reporter
January 20, 2007
For months, Duke lacrosse families have directed their anger largely at the prosecutor who brought what they consider a baseless sexual assault case against three players.
But District Attorney Michael B. Nifong, who recused himself from the case last week, isn't the only object of their rage. Parents of team members say the university abandoned the 46 players, buckling under pressure by faculty and demonstrators to take action against the team when an African-American stripper's rape allegation surfaced last March.
In a series of interviews, parents and lacrosse team supporters say Duke officials misled them about the university's position, privately assuring them that they believed players' claims of innocence but undercutting the team publicly by making critical comments and forfeiting games. The school's handling of the case has also alienated some alumni.
"Let's face it, a college community is a diverse environment, and there was sensitivity to the notion of white, privileged athletes beating up on a black woman. But in the consideration of an absolutely false notion, three Duke students and their families got lost," said Duke parent Sally Fogarty of Chevy Chase.
She is the mother of Gibbs Fogarty, a sophomore Duke lacrosse player who is not among the players charged.
Prosecutors dropped rape charges against the three accused players last month, although other charges remain.
Duke says it honored the players' presumption of innocence but had to let the legal system run its course. It would not have helped the players if Duke had tried to improperly influence the outcome of such a high-profile court case by becoming a legal advocate, said John Burness, a Duke senior vice president.
snip