Lawyers in Detroit text case accused of misconduct
Headline News
A lawyer who used a salacious trove of text messages as leverage to settle two lawsuits against ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for $8.4 million has been charged with ethics violations, along with four attorneys who worked on the deal.
Mike Stefani "engaged in conduct that is contrary to justice, ethics, honesty or good morals," the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission said in a nine-page complaint. Staff at the grievance commission act as investigators and prosecutors of misconduct by lawyers.
"I was simply representing my clients to the best of my ability," Stefani said. "I'm not going to accept allegations that I'm dishonest or committed a crime." He added: "I'm going to defend my reputation."
The text messages were "irrefutable" evidence that Kilpatrick, a lawyer, committed perjury at a 2007 civil trial when he denied having an affair with a top aide, but Stefani didn't notify the commission in a timely manner, investigators said.
Stefani obtained Kilpatrick's text messages by sending a subpoena to SkyTel Inc., the city's communications provider.
The messages arrived in October 2007, a few weeks after the police officers' trial. The officers claimed Kilpatrick punished them because they were investigating wrongdoing by his inner circle.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.