O'hare Got Harsh Penalty Personal Problems At Root Of O'hare Case February 16, 1986|by RON DEVLIN, The Morning CallTo a lawyer, particularly one who had gone after Colombian drug dealers and child pornographers as a federal prosecutor, the charges were devastating.
The state Supreme Court, which last month suspended attorney Bernard V. O'Hare III from practicing law for two years, charged that the former Bethlehem lawyer had engaged in dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation and forgery in the handling of a client's affairs.
They were the kinds of allegations that O'Hare, who had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Scranton for 18 months when he resigned last August, had often made in court against the criminals he prosecuted.
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This time, however, they were being used to describe his own professional conduct.
And accompanying them was an unusually harsh penalty - a two-year suspension, rather than the one-year sanction recommended by a committee of his peers - which the state's highest court said was prompted by the "serious transgressions" suffered by O'Hare's client and the legal profession itself.
Contacted by telephone at his Wind Gap home last week, the 35-year-old lawyer talked at length about the personal problem that has interrupted - maybe even ended - his legal career, but stipulated that the information could not be published.
O'Hare's off-the-record remarks, however, underscored the tone of the Supreme Court's suspension order, which laid the blame for the lawyer's misconduct on personal and emotional problems, not criminal intent or financial gain.
"(O'Hare is) a sincere young man who seriously performed his duties but was caught in a set of circumstances which he responded to with regretable conduct," the disciplinary board of the state Supreme Court said in its report. "But he did not take the action for his own financial gain."
Indeed, the court made reinstatement conditional upon a medical report indicating that O'Hare is "emotionally and physically" capable of resuming the duties of his profession.
While there are indications that O'Hare has made considerable progress over the last nine months - and intends at some point to seek reinstatement to the legal profession - his problems are far from over.
While the Supreme Court disciplinary board's report indicated O'Hare's problems go back at least to 1980, the first public indication was when he was disbarred on Jan. 9.
The disciplinary action was based on allegations by George Usry, a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. worker who charged O'Hare misrepresented him in a 1980 suit against the company.
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O'hare Got Harsh Penalty Personal Problems At Root Of O'hare Case
ReplyDeleteFebruary 16, 1986|by RON DEVLIN, The Morning CallTo a lawyer, particularly one who had gone after Colombian drug dealers and child pornographers as a federal prosecutor, the charges were devastating.
The state Supreme Court, which last month suspended attorney Bernard V. O'Hare III from practicing law for two years, charged that the former Bethlehem lawyer had engaged in dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation and forgery in the handling of a client's affairs.
They were the kinds of allegations that O'Hare, who had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Scranton for 18 months when he resigned last August, had often made in court against the criminals he prosecuted.
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This time, however, they were being used to describe his own professional conduct.
And accompanying them was an unusually harsh penalty - a two-year suspension, rather than the one-year sanction recommended by a committee of his peers - which the state's highest court said was prompted by the "serious transgressions" suffered by O'Hare's client and the legal profession itself.
Contacted by telephone at his Wind Gap home last week, the 35-year-old lawyer talked at length about the personal problem that has interrupted - maybe even ended - his legal career, but stipulated that the information could not be published.
O'Hare's off-the-record remarks, however, underscored the tone of the Supreme Court's suspension order, which laid the blame for the lawyer's misconduct on personal and emotional problems, not criminal intent or financial gain.
"(O'Hare is) a sincere young man who seriously performed his duties but was caught in a set of circumstances which he responded to with regretable conduct," the disciplinary board of the state Supreme Court said in its report. "But he did not take the action for his own financial gain."
Indeed, the court made reinstatement conditional upon a medical report indicating that O'Hare is "emotionally and physically" capable of resuming the duties of his profession.
While there are indications that O'Hare has made considerable progress over the last nine months - and intends at some point to seek reinstatement to the legal profession - his problems are far from over.
While the Supreme Court disciplinary board's report indicated O'Hare's problems go back at least to 1980, the first public indication was when he was disbarred on Jan. 9.
The disciplinary action was based on allegations by George Usry, a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. worker who charged O'Hare misrepresented him in a 1980 suit against the company.
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FreeCreditScore.com™
A Good Credit Score is 700 & Above. See Yours in 2 Easy Steps for $0. FreeCreditScore.com/OfficialSite1 | 2 | 3 | NextAds by Google
GED? Take Our Online Test
Earn an High School Diploma Today And Get A Scholarship Worth$160! www.NationHighSchool.com/GEDOnline Political Science
Online Political Science Degree. Courses are Affordable & Flexible. www.APUS.eduGet A High School Diploma
Earn Your High School Diploma! Online Classes. Free Information. eLearners.com/HighSchoolAsk a Lawyer Online Now
24 Lawyers Are Online. Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com"Clear Your Nail Fungus"
Discover the top proven treatments to get rid of Nail Fungus fast. www.NailsFungus.orgFind more stories about
•Legal Profession
•State's Highest Court
FEATURED ARTICLES
Ex-city Lawyer Is Suspended For 2 Years
January 15, 1986
Science, not lawsuits, will find autism's cause
May 19, 2008
Room tax debate continues
March 18, 2001