Federal Court Upholds Suspension of Attorney for Baseless Accusations Against WCJs

A federal appellate court upheld the imposition of a five-year suspension on an attorney for his repeated, baseless accusations of judicial misconduct in a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation proceeding. In 2010, attorney Robert J. Murphy represented an injured worker before a workers' compensation judge in Pennsylvania. Before a scheduled hearing, the judge's secretary called Murphy and opposing counsel separately to inform them of the judge's rulings on several outstanding matters. She spoke to opposing counsel and left a message on Murphy's voicemail. That same day, ...