OSBA President Gary J. Leppla:
Once again the Ohio State Bar Association is compelled to speak out. A candidate for statewide office, an attorney himself, is denigrating an opponent, a fellow attorney, for doing his sworn duty as an officer of the court. This sort of attack is unacceptable.Our candidate for Attorney General, Mike Crites had this to say about the matter:
Yesterday, Ohio Attorney General candidates Richard Cordray and Mike Crites participated in a televised debate. During the debate, candidate Cordray criticized Mr. Crites for representing a state employee who pleaded guilty in 2000 to embezzling $10,000 in public money. Mr. Cordray’s statement contains the suggestion that Mr. Crites did something wrong by representing his client. Nothing could be further from the truth. Attorneys are duty-bound to see that a client’s right to representation in our American legal system is preserved. An attack on an attorney serving clients is an attack upon our American system of justice. This form of political attack is inappropriate.
The citizens of Ohio should not be misled by political attacks on lawyers who carry out their professional duties. Most Americans understand that lawyers are often called upon to take on unpopular causes, to defend those charged even with heinous crimes, to protect the rights of those who would destroy our democracy and to see that justice is available to every defendant. Lawyers have an ethical obligation to provide representation to clients even when they know the cause is unpopular or community reaction might be adverse, and most of our citizens understand and respect that commitment.
In making determinations with regard to what is fair or an unjust criticism of a lawyer, we must keep in mind that, in a democratic society, citizens have a right to make reasonable and fair criticism of public officials, including those running for office. However, they do not have a right to unfairly impugn the integrity of an opponent for exercising his or her professional duties. In our view, Mr. Cordray’s comments go beyond fair criticism.
“Richard Cordray and Marc Dann now have one more thing in common – they’ve both been reprimanded for unprofessional behavior.Does Ohio really want another Marc Dann in the Attorney General's office?
“Marc Dann was reprimanded by the Ohio Supreme Court for unethical conduct, and today Richard Cordray has been scolded by the Ohio State Bar Association for unprofessional conduct in his quest to be the state’s top lawyer. Ohioans deserve better from their next Attorney General.”
