Face The State Staff Report
News that Frank Pignatelli, a Denver defense attorney, is seeing his law license suspended after allegedly revealing client information to law enforcement officials, drew a mix of outrage and skepticism throughout Colorado's criminal defense community today.
Jeralyn Merritt, a well known Denver attorney, wrote about the development on her popular blog, Talk Left, this morning. "Of all the states in the country, he had to pick mine. Goodbye, Mr. Pignatelli. Criminal defense lawyers work for their clients, not law enforcement. If he gets another license elsewhere, maybe he should apply for a job with the D.A.'s office. Or, better yet, stick to wills and estates."
The Colorado Supreme Court's office of attorney regulation announced Wednesday afternoon that it had filed a petition to immediately suspend Pignatelli's license because Pignatelli allegedly committed fraud when applying to the Colorado bar in 2006. According to Supreme Court regulation counsel John Gleason, Pignatelli failed to disclose that he was the subject of a federal criminal investigation in Ohio or that federal authorities had informed him that they had sufficient information to charge him with federal crimes. In addition, Pignatelli faces allegations that he neglected clients in Colorado.
Of most interest, Gleason maintains that Pignatelli allegedly agreed to act as a confidential informant for police against individuals who believed that they had an attorney-client relationship with him. Pending approval of the petition, Gleason said the office of attorney regulation is proceeding with attorney discipline charges against Pignatelli.
Pignatelli, 45, quickly made inroads to Colorado's criminal defense community upon moving here two years ago, and boasted of having represented the mob in Ohio. He became a fixture in the Denver courts, where he was often seen in flamboyant suits and flashing expensive watches.
According to a recent report carried in Akron Beacon Journal, 30 individuals were arrested after Pignatelli worked undercover for police to avoid his own indictment as a co-conspirator in a federal drug case. On Jan. 23, Chevaliee Robinson, 30, was sentenced to 15 years in prison based, in part, on information Pignatelli provided to police. Federal authorities maintain that in addition to the arrests, Pignatelli's work helped law enforcement seize drugs, cash, and property totalling more than $3 million.
As the Beacon Journal reports, "Federal prosecutors said they learned through another investigation that Pignatelli was helping his clients purchase 'stash houses' in which to store drugs and money. Based on the investigation, which included wire taps, agents searched Pignatelli's home and recovered large sums of cash, authorities said. He was not indicted, but instead began cooperating with federal drug investigators."
But as of press time, Pignatelli had not been charged with any crimes, and his attorney, Lawrence Vuillemin, told the Beacon Journal that his client has "acted responsibly and as required under the law...It's been no secret to governmental authorities that Frank has been in Colorado. In fact, he would not have gone there if there had been an issue of his being a lawyer and practicing law out there."
Also defending Pignatelli was Denver defense attorney Phil Cherner, who previously served as president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and who now leases office space to Pignatelli. "He’s not being treated with the presumption of innocence," said Cherner, who said he had only limited knowledge of the accusations against Pignatelli. "It’s especially troubling in the legal community when other lawyers are quick to dump on him when they don’t know the facts.”
Under the state's legal ethics rules, attorneys applying for the bar must truthfully reveal previous contacts with law enforcement officials. In addition, under the rules, attorneys are extremely limited in what information they can reveal from client conversations.
“There are a number of scenarios that would lead to [properly] revealing confidential information,” Cherner said, noting that Pignatelli could have legally and ethically revealed client information if it helped his own defense in a criminal investigation.
Texas lawyer Mark Bennett touched on such exceptions on his blog. "I’m not as certain [that] Francis Pignatelli joined in his clients’ conspiracy, making the choice to sell his soul for a pile of cash," Bennett wrote, adding that Pignatelli may not have violated his ethical duties as an attorney. “It is possible that some of his clients were using him to commit crimes,” he wrote. “In that case, what they told him was not privileged, and it’s hard to sympathize with either him or them.”
Still, other lawyers see revealing client information as inexcusable. As the Wall Street Journal reports, New Yorker Scott Greenfield wrote on his blog, "There is no place horrific enough in the bowels of hell for the soul of a lawyer who would flip on his clients to save his sorry...butt."
Cherner said that given the Supreme Court's latest actions, Pignatelli spent much of Wednesday disengaging from the practice of law, returning deposits to clients, and finding other attorneys to take over his cases. He discounted suggestions made in a Fox 31 report that Pignatelli was neglecting his Colorado clients.