Grievance Administrator v. Geoffrey N. Fieger

Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger (defendant) represented a client in a medical-malpractice lawsuit. Fieger lost the case both in trial court and on appeal. After the appellate court ruled against Fieger’s client but before the judgment became final, Fieger made disparaging comments about the judges on his daily radio program. Fieger insulted the judges, calling them “jackasses,” among other, similar things. Further, Fieger made several on-air comments over the course of multiple days suggesting that the judges should engage in sodomy with an array of animate and inanimate objects. The Attorney Grievance Commission (commission) (plaintiff) filed a complaint against Fieger before the Attorney Discipline Board (board) alleging that Fieger’s statements violated multiple rules of professional conduct requiring attorneys to treat all persons involved in the legal process with courtesy and respect and prohibiting attorneys from engaging in undignified or discourteous conduct toward a tribunal. Fieger argued in his defense, among other things, that he should not be subject to discipline because his comments were made after the end of the case and because his statements were protected by the First Amendment. The board, in a set of three divided opinions, agreed with both those arguments. Fieger appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.