To justice!It is probably not a good sign when your attorney misses court dates or forges your name to sworn documents. But it’s not as bad as when he finally does show up to represent you and he’s either drunk or drugged.Those were among the kind of legal services that attorney Reed C. Pell was providing, according to the Washington State Bar Association. As a result, the bar says in recently filed disciplinary notices, Pell, a Yakima attorney 34 years, earned himself a two-year license suspension.On one courtroom occasion, the bar reports, Pell showed up for a child custody dispute “either intoxicated or under the influence of excessive amounts of prescription drugs. He presented an unkempt appearance and engaged in blurred and barely understandable speech.” A judge therein ended the hearing. During another occasion, he appeared in court to represent an accused bomber, and was himself seemingly bombed – “disheveled and apparently under the influence of some substance or alcohol.” He got called into the judge’s chambers and chewed out, the bar says.Pell can return to practice in 2011. Say this for the guy, he at least didn’t demand his fees be paid in sexual favors.
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