Disbarment plan ‘sour grapes’

Wednesday, May 10, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Las Vegas attorney Michael Schaefer says efforts to get him disbarred have been motivated "by sour grapes" from attorneys who opposed him in court and lost.

Schaefer's comments come on the heels of Monday's action by the State Bar of Nevada's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board, which filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court, asking that Schaefer, a candidate for North Las Vegas justice of the peace, be disbarred.

The decision stems from a Jan. 4 hearing, where the board determined that 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.

"This is just sour grapes from opposing counsel who lost their cases," Schaefer said Tuesday. "None of my clients have ever filed anything against me. The only complaint they have is that I don't charge them enough for my services after I win their cases."

Schaefer, who did not give names of the opposing attorneys who lost cases and are seeking revenge, says he will fight the allegations before the high court, though he admits he may have to hire a lawyer skilled in that field to represent him.

The bar alleges in its petition that Schaefer "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 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 says he went to her house just to put legal papers on her door and the woman came out and confronted him.

Last year Schaefer filed a suit against Mirage Resorts Inc. after the gaming company canceled his credit line and banned him from its resorts over a credit dispute.

In both incidents the bar alleges that Schaefer violated rules of conduct by not going through the opposing side's counsel. Schaefer argues that such a rule applies only when he is representing a client, not when he is representing himself.

Schaefer also is alleged to have filed a false affidavit in a case in Texas, a mistake he said that stemmed from his divorce. He said he already has paid for that incident by serving a 30-day suspension from practicing law.