Opinion ID: 1579148
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Child Custody Matter

Text: In late 1999 or early 2000, Nathan began representing a mother in a child custody matter arising out of a paternity proceeding. The father was seeking unsupervised visitation of the child and the mother sought to prevent unsupervised visitation. The pattern of harassing and frivolous litigation that the referee found Nathan engaged in was pervasive in this matter. Nathan sent the guardian ad litem several harassing letters. In one letter he called her worse than worthless and threatened to deal with her accordingly. In another letter addressed to her, he threatened to inform others involved in the case that she was not truthful or impartial and cannot be trusted. Nathan also wrote letters to the judge complaining that the guardian ad litem was biased. Because of Nathan's conduct, an attorney was appointed to represent the guardian ad litem. Nathan then sent the guardian ad litem's attorney a letter threatening to publish the guardian ad litem's letters to him and the judge on Nathan's website as examples of outrageous actions by a court-appointed quasi-expert. Nathan engaged in a similar pattern of conduct towards the individual appointed as the visitation investigator. The judge ordered the parties to split the cost of hiring the investigator and to cooperate with her by giving her access to all necessary records and individuals. In a letter to the investigator, Nathan stated that he would not pay for her services, as he believed that the judge's order was premature and unjustified. Nathan was also upset because he learned that during a supervised visitation session the investigator asked the child to refer to her father as Dad. Nathan stated that this was not acceptable and threatened to discontinue visitation. Three days later, Nathan sent the investigator another letter, stating that she could not have direct contact with the mother or any member of her family. That letter included several derogatory statements about the investigator's professional reputation and threatened to publish a description of her actions on Nathan's website. In addition to threatening to violate the court order to cooperate with and pay for the investigator, the referee found that Nathan violated and assisted his client in violating other court orders in this matter. After the judge adopted the investigator's visitation recommendation and ordered a transition from supervised to unsupervised visitation, the mother did not bring the child to a scheduled supervised visitation. The father's attorney moved for a contempt hearing and the mother went into hiding and did not appear. In an affidavit, the mother stated that she did not appear on Nathan's advice, and that throughout the time she was in hiding with the child, Nathan advised her not to turn herself in. [1] The father did not see the child again for over a year. The judge asked Nathan multiple times to disclose his client's location and whether his client was in the state. Nathan stated that he advised his client not to appear but refused to give the legal basis for that advice. Nathan repeatedly refused to disclose any information relating to his client's location, citing attorney-client privilege. The judge found Nathan in contempt. Nathan still refused to disclose the location of his client and was incarcerated for 54 days. Nathan never complied with the court's order. The referee also found that Nathan made a frivolous request for a stay in this matter when he requested that visitation be stayed until a claim of abuse was investigated. The same claim of abuse had been raised one year earlier and after an investigation was determined to be unfounded. There are two statements that Nathan made about the judge in this case that the referee found to be baseless or derogatory. Both statements came in a petition that Nathan filed in the court of appeals to overturn the visitation order. In that petition, Nathan wrote that the judge is a bad judge, who substituted his personal view for the law and won election to the office of judge by appealing to racism. The referee found that the only evidence of a personal view the judge expressed was not inconsistent with the law. The referee also found that Nathan's sole basis for the allegation that the judge won election by appealing to racism was that the judge's opponent in the previous election had what Nathan referred to as a Hmong-sounding name. In addition to the false statements Nathan made about the judge, the referee found that Nathan made a false statement to opposing counsel. During a telephone conversation, Nathan told opposing counsel that he had been recording the conversation without counsel's knowledge. Nathan did not in fact record the conversation.