by Richard W. Millar, Jr.

I have written a number of columns by now that deal, one way or the other, with social media. I still am unsure whether its invention was a blessing or a curse, but I suspect it will be looked on by future historians as a bit of both.

I also find as I get older, that the list of things I do not understand greatly (and continually) exceeds the list of things I do.

When it comes to social media, I cannot for the life of me understand why some people post the “stuff” they do. The maxim my mother taught me when I was little was that it is better to let people believe you are stupid rather than opening your mouth and proving it. That thought, whatever its merit, is often ignored when it comes to social media. Instead of a few people around the dinner table thinking you are an idiot, half the world’s population can now reach the same conclusion before dessert is served.

Which brings me to one Malik Leigh, formerly a lawyer in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Well, that may not be entirely accurate: he still may be in Palm Beach County.

Mr. Leigh had three cases against the local school district. He represented himself in one of the cases and represented others in the remaining two. Both before the cases were filed and while they were pending, he wrote “humiliating, disparaging and unprofessional social media posts naming the defendants and deponents . . . .”

In one, he wrote that a subpoenaed witness was “trying to leave the county . . . so she doesn’t have to give testimony,” capping it off, “JAIL DEAR . . . YOU ARE GOING TO JAIL!”

In another post, he referred to an upcoming deposition, identifying the deponent and saying, “[I] get to ask her about all the Bullshit about my so-called wholly inappropriate exam . . . and how much money she has stolen from the schools.”

In still another, “So, who gets testimony proving [name omitted by me] is a LIAR . . . and proved that the teachers contracts are based upon a lie? WE DO!”

There are more, but you get the drift.

There were also a series of other posts, not directed toward pending litigation, but, rather reflective of his state of mind.

For reasons known only to him, he posted two fictitious alternative obituaries for one of his former teachers who had died, which even I have trouble summarizing: one that her body exploded during cremation leaving her skin “looking like beef jerky that had been submerged in water . . . or like a lizard that was run over . . . ;” and one where her body fell out of her casket and was run over by a truck, then picked up by a tornado and hung up on a tree and all of her former employees were “blown up by ISIS.”

He posted a picture of himself with a statement: “After this round of if [sic] depos in the next 2 weeks, would love to start a shooting campaign.” Another post included a picture of a tommy gun being fired by a movie character in The Mask with the message: “Me the next time im [sic] in front of the #Liverpool back line!!” Still another said, “I can’t hate the US and it’s [sic] people more right now. Just need a mass extinction event right now.”

Upon motion by the defense, the district court ordered that all remaining depositions be taken in the presence of an armed police officer. Furthermore, Mr. Leigh was ordered to pay the defense lawyer’s attorneys’ fees and he was suspended from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for two years.

This, and other conduct, including wrongfully accusing opposing counsel of forgery, led, as you might guess, to referrals to the Florida Bar.

The Florida State Bar Referee issued a Report which recommended that Mr. Leigh be suspended for 91 days and that he would have to complete the Bar’s “Professionalism Workshop” and the Bar’s “Ethics School.” In other words, despite the fact that a district court judge found his conduct so frightening that the court ordered an armed guard for depositions, the recommendation was a three-month suspension and a couple of CLE classes.

It did not end there, as the Bar appealed to the Florida Supreme Court which did not buy whatever was sold to the Referee and found that “the magnitude of Leigh’s misconduct signifies a larger issue with Leigh that cannot be remedied by a rehabilitative suspension.” With that understatement, the Supreme Court ordered his disbarment.

That may or may not have been the “extinction event” that Mr. Leigh had in mind.

Richard W. Millar, Jr. is tired and retired. He can be reached at dickmillar9@gmail.com.