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Thursday, October 07, 2010

Ind. Decisions - "After Client Adoption Files Blow Into Public View, Court Reprimands Attorney" [Updated]

The Indiana Supreme Court disciplinary ruling in In the Matter of Steven C. Litz (ILB summary here, 2nd case) is the subject of a story this afternoon by Leigh Jones of The National Law Journal. Some quotes:

An Indiana adoption lawyer whose client files were scattered in the wind after his adult children left boxes of them beside a recycling bin has received a public reprimand.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Sept. 30 issued the reprimand against Steven Litz, whose Monrovia, Ind., practice focuses on adoption and criminal law. The court noted that it was the third time Litz had received a public reprimand.

Litz directed his two children to take about 14 boxes of client files he wanted to discard to a local recycling bin, according to the decision. Finding that the bins were full, they left the boxes on the ground beside the bins and did not tell Litz. The wind later blew the tops off the boxes and sent some of the papers flying into public view. After someone notified Litz of the situation, he and his children retrieved the documents. * * *

In 2008, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a public reprimand against Litz for directly communicating with another lawyer's client. In 1999, the court reprimanded him for writing a letter to local newspapers about his client's innocence during a retrial. The court in that case found that his conduct violated Indiana's ethics rules forbidding attorneys from making extrajudicial statements that may prejudice a court proceeding.

Litz handles surrogacy and adoption cases, in addition to drunk driving and general criminal matters.

[Updated 10/11/10] The Indianapolis Star now has a story on the reprimand.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 7, 2010 03:25 PM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions