Norm Pattis, the attorney representing Infowars host Alex Jones in a $1 billion defamation lawsuit over lies about the Sandy Hook school shooting, could face a six-month suspension. This is according to recent filings in a disciplinary proceeding in 海角换妻.
Pattis did not return requests for comment about the potential six-month suspension, which is being considered amid disciplinary hearings that aim to get to the bottom of how and why his office shared confidential medical records of Sandy Hook parents who sued Jones in 海角换妻.
鈥淭here is clear and convincing evidence that Pattis knowingly transferred 海角换妻 plaintiffs鈥� discovery to a non-authorized individual,鈥� said Brian Staines, the chief disciplinary officer in the state鈥檚 judicial branch, in a .
Judge Barbara Bellis, the same judge who presided over the lawsuit against Jones filed in 海角换妻 by eight relatives of Sandy Hook victims in Waterbury Superior Court, launched the disciplinary proceedings in August. She was concerned about the sharing of an external hard drive among attorneys representing Jones in separate cases, because it wasn鈥檛 disclosed to her court. Instead, she found out at the same time as a public broadcast.
During a Texas lawsuit trial, which was streamed by the local court, an attorney representing the parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis revealed that a law firm representing Jones mistakenly shared with his office two years鈥� worth of Jones鈥� text messages and confidential psychiatric records of families who sued Jones in 海角换妻.
That attorney, Mark Bankston, said Jones鈥� defense attorneys in Texas must have gotten those records from Pattis in 海角换妻. Bankston told the court he destroyed the files once he realized what they were and notified Jones鈥� attorneys, who had 10 days to act.
Staines wrote in a filing this month that Pattis should鈥檝e been careful, particularly during 鈥渙ne of the most significant litigations pending in 海角换妻.鈥�
鈥淧attis was aware of and subject to [a] protective order. He instructed his associate to transfer, without limitation, plaintiff鈥檚 discovery to [Texas bankruptcy attorney Kyung S.] Lee who is not an authorized person to receive the documents,鈥� Staines wrote.
Andino Reynal, Jones鈥� defamation defense attorney in Texas, acknowledged while testifying in Waterbury Superior Court earlier this year that he received the hard drive from Lee, the bankruptcy attorney hired to represent three companies owned by Jones. Reynal told the court that he didn鈥檛 realize he had the confidential records and that the incident was 鈥渋ncredibly embarrassing.鈥�
Staines recommends that Reynal be suspended from practicing law in 海角换妻 for three months, while Pattis鈥� recommended suspension is six months.
Reynal came up in the 海角换妻 case as Jones considered dismissing Pattis as counsel. Bellis briefly granted Reynal conditional 鈥減ro hac vice鈥� status to represent Jones in 海角换妻, but he never completed his application. Reynal still got hold of a drive containing highly confidential information of the 海角换妻 plaintiffs, even though he was not authorized to do so, according to Staines.
鈥淭here is clear and convincing evidence that it was not competent for Reynal to take possession of several gigabytes of data received by Lee from Pattis, without having a complete understanding as to what information he was receiving,鈥� .
Staines said in the Nov. 16 filing that Reynal compounded that mistake of not knowing what he had by failing to disclose to Bellis a potential exposure of the plaintiffs鈥� confidential records. Staines says in his disciplinary filing that Reynal did nothing for at least 10 days after his office was notified by opposing counsel that they had shared the confidential files.
When asked about the records-sharing controversy at an August hearing, Pattis asserted his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer any questions.
Both attorneys for Pattis and Reynal are scheduled to argue their cases in a Jan. 13 hearing.
