LIT COMMENTARY
Will this complaint get past the ‘inquiry’ stage at the Texas Bar? The answer’s due in a couple of days (Jan 23, 2021). Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us @lawsintexasusa.
Jan 21, 2021
Powell, Wood Say Not Signing Docs Means No Disbarment
Sidney Powell and other attorneys facing discipline after challenging Michigan’s 2020 election results have told a federal court they should not be referred for disbarment over frivolous filings in the case, claiming they didn’t sign the pleadings or formally appear in the matter.
Michigan man files complaint against Trump attorney Sidney Powell over ‘frivolous’ Kraken lawsuit
DEC 24, 2020 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: JAN 21, 2021
BAY CITY, MI — A Bay County man has filed a grievance with the State Bar of Texas against Sidney Powell, an attorney and ally of President Donald Trump.
Adam C. Reddick on Dec. 2 filed his grievance in the Lone Star State against Powell, who has filed several so-called “Kraken” lawsuits across the country in a bid to prevent President-elect Joe Biden from becoming president.
“When you file a lawsuit, you’re supposed to have some merit to it,” Reddick said. “It doesn’t have to be a slam dunk, but it at least has to be based on some sort of evidence, some facts that are arguable, and not debunked conspiracy theories, lies, and speculation. That part offended me, that she was doing something like that.”
Biden bested Trump by 154,188 votes to win Michigan’s 16 electoral votes.
Powell filed her suit in the Eastern District of Michigan on Nov. 25, naming Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, the City of Detroit, the Democratic National Committee, the Michigan Democratic Party, and Wayne County voter Robert Davis.
U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker on Dec. 7 issued a 36-page dismissal of the suit, writing in part that, “The closest Plaintiffs get to alleging that election machines and software changed votes for President Trump to Vice President Biden is an amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation.”
Powell’s federal lawsuits in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia to decertify their election results have also been dismissed.
“I felt that her conduct was egregious enough that it needed to be reported,” said Reddick on why he filed the grievance against Powell. “I had read several news articles stating that because it was political in nature, she was unlikely to face any discipline. That seemed wrong to me based on the fact that she’s been essentially filing frivolous lawsuits all over the place.”
Reddick, who practiced law as an attorney until his law license was suspended by the State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board in October 2019, said his own disciplinary experience also factored into his decision to file a grievance. He experienced personal problems that carried over into his professional career, he said, leading him to neglect some of his obligations.
The State of Michigan Attorney Discipline Board on Oct. 25, 2019, suspended Reddick’s license for 30 days, stating he had handled a legal matter without adequate preparation and had neglected the matter entrusted to him. The board suspended Reddick’s license for an additional 60 days as he had “failed to timely satisfy the terms and conditions” of a prior order.
In March, the board suspended Reddick’s license further as it found he had appeared at a hearing “but was in default for his failure to file an answer to the formal complaint.” Based upon this, the hearing panel found he had, in part, “engaged in professional misconduct in his representation of a client.”
Reddick said he hopes to have his law license reinstated in January.
“What I did was negligent; what she’s doing is intentional,” Reddick said. “To me, that’s even more reprehensible.”
He said that in Michigan, attorneys aware of other lawyers’ misconduct have an obligation to report it.
“Ms. Powell has filed a frivolous lawsuit … seeking to disenfranchise voters in the State of Michigan, including myself,” Reddick wrote in his grievance. “In support of her lawsuit, she has provided conspiracy theories and lies. Her lawsuit is also riddled with mistakes. She has appeared in national media making false statements relating to her lawsuit.”
In the grievance, Reddick goes on to assert Powell has violated the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
Reddick said he filed the grievance only on his own behalf as Michigan resident.
“Anybody can file,” he said. “There is always the issue of standing, but ultimately, I claimed I had standing based upon that she filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the election results in the federal district in which I reside.”
Reddick added that before Trump, he “pretty much sided with Republicans,” adding he “completely despises what Trump has done to the Republican Party.” He said he voted Biden in the 2020 election.
Reddick, who has been working as a paralegal at Triton Legal PLC at 3906 N. Euclid Ave. in Bangor Township since his license’s suspension, received a letter from the State Bar of Texas on Wednesday, Dec. 23, stating it had received his complaint. In it, the bar states Powell will be provided with Reddick’s complaint and have 30 days to respond.
After Powell responds, the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel will investigate the complaint to determine if there is just cause to believe she committed professional misconduct or suffers from a disability.
“If they do decide she committed misconduct, a lawyer can face anywhere from a reprimand to the ultimate punishment of disbarment,” Reddick said.
Powell’s team previously argued the court must act to prevent Biden from winning the Electoral College vote, which he did on Dec. 14.
“The issues raised are weighty as they call into question who is the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election,” Powell’s team wrote in a filing, according to The Detroit Free Press. “These exceptional circumstances warrant the exercise of the Court’s discretionary powers.”
On a related front, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday, Dec. 22, announced she is considering seeking sanctions against lawyers who filed lawsuits against the state’s election results. She also said she plans to seek court costs and fees and to file complaints with the attorney grievance commission.
The City of Detroit also recently said it plans to file a motion asking a federal judge to impose sanctions against Powell and other lawyers involved in filing the “Kraken” suit, according to Forbes.
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New post: Impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton? This is Bandit Country. https://t.co/F30TfqYwz9
— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) January 20, 2021
New post: A Threat’s A Threat, Unless it’s a Texas Lawyer https://t.co/RKtk3IvsdG
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Adam C. Reddick, P71543, Bay City, by the Attorney Discipline Board, Tri-Valley
Orders of Discipline and Disability
January 2020 Michigan Bar Journal
Hearing Panel #3, for 60 days, effective November 25, 2019.1
On October 3, 2019, Tri-Valley Hearing Panel #3 issued an order suspending the respondent for 30 days, effective October 25, 2019, and imposing conditions which the respondent was to comply with.
The panel further ordered that, in the event the respondent failed to timely satisfy the terms of the conditions, the grievance administrator may file a motion with an accompanying affidavit attesting to the respondent’s failure to comply with the conditions as ordered.
Upon the filing of such motion andaffidavit, the hearing panel would issue an order suspending the respondent’s license to practice law in Michigan for an additional 60 days.
The grievance administrator filed a Motion to Increase Suspension along with an affidavit attesting to the respondent’s failure to timely comply with the conditions
imposed in the hearing panel’s October 3, 2019 Order of Suspension (With Conditions), Case No. 19-24-GA, pursuant to a provision contained in the hearing panel’s order that allowed such a motion if the order was violated.
The hearing panel granted the motion and found that the respondent failed to timely comply with the conditions in the hearing panel’s October 3, 2019 order, which constituted misconduct under MCR 9.104(9).
The hearing panel ordered that the respondent’s license to practice law in Michigan be suspended for an additional 60 days. No additional costs were assessed.
1. The respondent has been continuously suspended from the practice of law since October 25, 2019. See Notice of Suspension with Conditions, Grievance Administrator v Adam C. Reddick, Case No. 19-24-GA, issued October 31, 2019
