LV attorney faces disbarment

Tuesday, May 9, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

Embattled Las Vegas attorney Michael Schaefer is facing potential disbarment.

The State Bar of Nevada's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board on Monday filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court, asking that Schaefer, a candidate for North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace, be disbarred based on its findings from a Jan. 4 hearing.

The bar, in its petition, said Schaefer, 62, committed violations of "such an extreme and serious nature as to warrant the sanction of disbarment." The five-member panel's vote was unanimous.

The bar alleges that Schaefer has "engaged in a pattern of misconduct, has committed multiple offenses of Nevada's Supreme Court rules and has refused to acknowledge to the panel both during the hearing and in his post-hearing brief the wrongful nature of his conduct."

The alleged violations include defying a no-contact court order in a criminal battery case. On March 9, 1998, Schaefer visited a woman, knowing he was to be sentenced in the battery case involving her, the petition said.

Schaefer also is alleged to have "knowingly prepared an order erroneously awarding (his corporation) costs" in one local case and is alleged to have filed a false affidavit in a case in Texas.

Schaefer also is alleged to have filed suit on behalf of people without their authorization and is accused in the state bar's petition of failing to pay a court-ordered $5,000 fine in connection with filing that suit.

Attempts to reach Schaefer for comment were unsuccessful.

Last year, Schaefer became embroiled in a battle with the Mirage hotel-casino, filing a suit after the resort banned him over a credit line dispute.

Schaefer tried to get his credit line at Mirage Resorts Inc. extended from $2,500 to $5,000, which last March canceled his credit line altogether. Another of the bar's allegations is that Schaefer has repeatedly contacted Mirage Resorts after being told by counsel for the gaming company to stop.

In 1998, Schaefer made an unsuccessful bid for the Department 7 Justice of the Peace post won by Jennifer Togliatti, who was then a deputy district attorney.

Schaefer ran part of his campaign while on house arrest after being convicted of misdemeanor charges of pepper-spraying one of his neighbors and shoving another. He was released from house arrest on the day of the primary election.