The New Mexico Supreme Court has issued an opinion in a disciplinary matter, clarifying the standard for determining whether an attorney has violated Rule 16-802(A) of the Rules of Professional Conduct by making several unfounded statements about the integrity of a judge presiding over a case to which the lawyer’s clients were parties.
The attorney, Victor Marshall, has been indefinitely suspended from the practice of law for at least 18 months after he allegedly attacked the integrity and candor of Judge James J. Wechsler, in an appeals court pleading where Marshall claimed, among other things, that there were “disquieting rumors about Judge Wechsler in the New Mexico Legislature, prompting some legislators to ask whether or not the rumors could be substantiated,” according to the opinion filed March 13.
