Attorney Loses Appeal of Contempt Finding for Not Taking Stand
Bloomberg Law is reporting that a Washington, D.C., attorney is in criminal contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about where his client’s assets could be found, the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed March 26.
The court found that Matthew LeFande disregarded oral and written orders to answer questions on the witness stand by the magistrate judge in the underlying case. That underlying litigation began when LeFande’s client sold a property through a real estate settlement company, and the company mistakenly transferred almost $300,000 back to her instead of to her mortgage lender.
At a status conference, the magistrate judge ordered LeFande to answer questions, but he refused, asserting attorney-client and Fifth Amendment privileges, writes Bloomberg’s Martina Barash.
Read the Bloomberg Law article.
