Opinion Forum

Gloria Allred Should Be Disbarred

October 2nd, 2010

Media hound Gloria Allred should be disbarred.

Representing an illegal immigrant who is a former housekeeper of Meg Whitman, who just happens to be running for Governor of California, Ms. Allred has taken to the airwaves in a blatant, if not illegal attempt to tar Meg Whitman with the label of liar just ahead of the California gubernatorial election.

Ms. Allred appeared with her client Nicky Diaz Santillan on national television yesterday to show what a big meanie Meg Whitman is. With tears dripping down her cheeks and a quavering voice, Santillan detailed how (Republican) Meg Whitman abused her. She was actually forced to drive a car and allegedly Whitman refused to pay her overtime.

Allred actually referred to her client as a modern day Rosa Parks — willing to risk deportation in order to expose the various injustices perpetrated upon her. “Americans appreciate the huge risks she is taking,” Allred said. Huh?

Gloria Allred has informed the nation that her client has entered this country illegally and has used a stolen social security number in order to obtain employment. In essence, Gloria Allred has exposed her client to deportation and/or jail time. Other illegal immigrants who have gone public for various reasons have eventually ended up deported.

No amount of spin can gloss over the legal jeopardy Allred has exposed her client to. And no amount of ginned up indignation can obscure the fact that Allred has sacrificed her client for her own agenda.

Allred has manufactured a reputation of being a “woman’s advocate.” She envisions herself as a protector of all women against the patriarchal system of old white men. Her reputation is a direct result of accepting only those cases which will guarantee her publicity. No matter how frivolous. I know this from personal knowledge, having done business with Allred’s firm.

Lost in the shuffle of bright lights and national face time is one inconvenient fact. As a lawyer, Gloria Allred is legally obligated to put her client’s interest ahead of her own. This she has not done.

In her quest for yet another 15 minutes of fame, Allred has thrown her client under the bus. That is both illegal and unethical. And shameful.

Author and legal expert Mark Levin questioned Allred yesterday on his radio show. Allred was unwilling to answer the most basic questions regarding the case, trying instead to rebut Levin with emotion instead of facts. She got smacked down, big time.

Unlike the liberal media, Mark Levin was not swayed by Allred’s blatant attempt to turn her client into a cause celebre. Instead, Allred’s points were totally demolished. And she was exposed for what she is — an ageing progressive lawyer trying to reaffirm her ill-gotten reputation by using her own client to smear a conservative candidate. For shame.

This case is not about Gloria’s client. It is about legal ethics and Allred’s huge ego. By willingly placing a client in legal jeopardy in order to further her own political agenda, Gloria has broken the law. She should be disbarred. Immediately.

(This article was also posted at Right Bias.)

Articles written by Nancy Morgan
Tags: Allred, disbarred, ethics, governor, housekeeper, publicity, Whitman
Categories: Law, News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

4 Responses to “Gloria Allred Should Be Disbarred”

Lisa | October 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 pm

And when you consider that her client was being paid $23.00 an hour by Meg Whitman, it makes the case more ludicrous.

Tom Carter | October 3rd, 2010 at 7:20 am

Gloria Allred is a publicity hound and a high-priced ambulance chaser. That’s been clear for a long time. She gives lawyers a bad name, and that’s saying a lot.

According to Whitman and her husband, even the IRS letter that Allred promotes as proof of Whitman’s knowledge that her maid was an illegal alien doesn’t prove anything at all. This whole thing is more political nonsense. Allred is after publicity and money, and I’m sure the maid sees a payoff of some kind in her future.

It seems completely accurate that Allred is using Diaz, to include exposing her to legal liability. Don’t look for her to be disbarred, though; lawyers don’t usually go after other lawyers with influence.

Dan Miller | October 3rd, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Tom, it may be accurate to say that “lawyers don’t usually go after other lawyers with influence.” However, former President Clinton had his problems:

The US Supreme Court ordered former President Bill Clinton to be disbarred from practising law before the high court and gave him 40 days to contest the order.

The court did not explain its reasons , but Supreme Court disbarment often follows disbarment in lower courts. In April, Clinton’s Arkansas law licence was suspended for five years and he paid a $25,000 fine. The original disbarment lawsuit was brought by a committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

There are no fines associated with the Supreme Court action. Most lawyers who are admitted to the US Supreme Court bar never actually argue a case there, but the right to do so is considered an honour.

Clinton agreed to the Arkansas fine and suspension last January, the day before he left office, as part of an understanding with Independent Counsel Robert Ray to end the Monica Lewinsky investigation.

The agreement also satisfied the legal effort by the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct to disbar Clinton for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

The Supreme Court followed its standard rules in the Clinton case, which include suspending Clinton from practice in the court and giving him 40 day to show why he should not be permanently disbarred.

Ms Allred is far less influential than is/was former President Clinton, but even with her alleged ties to Brown may have some problems as well.

Tom Carter | October 3rd, 2010 at 7:06 pm

Clinton is the exception that proves the rule. Perjury, obstruction, witness tampering, etc — would any average citizen (or average lawyer, for that matter) have gotten off so easily? In this case, Clinton was permitted to avoid indictment by agreeing to accept a couple of meaningless (if embarrassing, at least for a normal person) slaps on the wrist, which certainly hasn’t kept him from becoming very wealthy and retaining massive political influence.