Something about summer in California brings out the crazy. Developments in the law of lawyer conduct are not immune.
A few days ago, the California Bar declined to discipline a lawyer who gave a racially charged cartoon to a city council member. In the past, he had showed up for council meetings in Ku Klux Klan garb and hurled racist epithets at the council members. Something about the cartoon, which I think included a drawing of a lynching, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. A bar complaint was filed. Noting that there was no rule against “offensive personality,” the grievance folks declined to pursue the case, though they promised to revisit the issue if the lawyer was later arrested for his behavior.
