Tomas Rodriguez said in an email that he'd had "other stuff to worry about"
The Iowa Supreme Court recently issued a reprimand order against lawyer Tomas Rodriguez for neglecting his clients, reported the American Bar Association Journal.
The court’s attorney disciplinary board determined that Rodriguez broke ethics rules “governing diligence, competence and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice”, as per the Journal.
Rodriguez had skipped “multiple” parole revocation hearings for the clients appointed to him and had not responded to parole officers’ emails and phone calls. As a result of Rodriguez no-showing hearings, his clients had to either remain in jail or proceed without counsel.
Moreover, Rodriguez once gave a criminal defendant charged with stalking, harassment and burglary the wrong date for a January 2022 hearing. The defendant also missed electronic filing notices and a February 2022 hearing after Rodriguez filed a plea of not guilty but not an appearance.
The disciplinary board disclosed that Rodriguez sent an email saying that he’d had “other stuff to worry about besides the hearings”, according to a statement published by the Journal.
The court issued the public reprimand against Rodriguez on 9 November.
