I was an expert witness in a professional liability suit against an attorney in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. The defendant lawyer was somewhat bizarre during the trial. The jurors had sent notes that they felt threatened by him. The verdict was an odd one finding some fiduciary violations, but no monetary damages. The lawyer then sent the expert witness a threatening letter stating the expert’s testimony was outrageous and unconscionable, and the attorney was not going to let this matter go. Is there any ethical violation here?

In litigation, no attorney, whether a lawyer representing a client or the attorney/client should ever write a threatening letter to a witness, whether it is a fact witness or an expert witness. In fact, the thought that a lawyer would even consider doing that is horrifying and suggesting either the level of professionalism has been reduced far below what was traditionally expected, or the lawyer is suffering from such severe mental illness that they are no longer fit to practice law.

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