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Jan. 27, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RISKING SANCTIONS: 'Heavy Hitter' in tough spot

Colleagues question why attorney skipped first day of murder trial

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

A judge wants to hear why attorney Glen Lerner missed the first day of his client's trial.
Review-Journal file photo

When personal injury lawyer Glen Lerner missed the first day of his client's murder trial last week, the self-described "Heavy Hitter" opened himself to a legal thumping that could include disbarment or even jail time, legal experts said.

Lerner was to begin defending 42-year-old Mario Lino, who has been in the county jail for almost eight months on charges that he killed a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife.


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    • Lerner said he was on a "sabbatical" in Pennsylvania and couldn't attend the hearing. He left a message on a county prosecutor's voice mail several days before the trial saying he wouldn't be returning to Las Vegas to defend his client, and "if the judge wants to sanction me, she can sanction me."

    "It's an outrageous thing to do," said Martin Geer, a professor at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

    Geer, who was a criminal defense attorney for 15 years in Detroit and Washington, D.C., said he has never heard of an attorney not showing up on the first day of a murder trial.

    Geer said the District Court judge presiding over the case, Michelle Leavitt, could hold Lerner in civil or criminal contempt.

    That means Leavitt could order Lerner to pay the county costs associated with the delay in the trial. If she makes a complaint and it's upheld by the State Bar, he could even have his license to practice law taken away.

    But Leavitt also could hold Lerner in criminal contempt and require him to spend upwards of 25 days behind bars as a way of punishing him, Geer said.

    "A lot of judges would have issued a warrant for his arrest immediately. I've seen it happen when someone is late," Geer said.

    Leavitt said previously that she would refer Lerner's behavior to the State Bar of Nevada and would issue an order for Lerner to appear before her and explain why he didn't appear in court.

    Leavitt said she wanted to hear Lerner's side of the story.

    David Clark, deputy counsel for the State Bar, wouldn't speculate on possible sanctions Lerner could face.

    Clark said the State Bar has yet to receive a complaint from Leavitt against Lerner.

    The Bar could initiate a complaint against Lerner, Clark said, but hasn't done so. He said the Bar "may want to see what the judge wants to do" before filing a complaint against Lerner.

    Lerner wouldn't comment on Friday.

    His attorney, Dominic Gentile, said he wasn't aware of any order asking Lerner to appear before Leavitt to explain himself.

    Gentile said any further explanation about Lerner's handling of the Lino case will come out in court. But Gentile said Lerner doesn't appear to be the trial attorney of record in Lino's case.

    Prosecutors have said that Lerner told them he was the lead attorney in the case, and Lerner appeared at Lino's preliminary hearing.

    Local attorneys agreed with Geer that Lerner's behavior was unheard of.

    Robert Langford, a criminal defense attorney who also was a county prosecutor, said he doubts the State Bar will look favorably on Lerner.

    But he said Lerner isn't the type of attorney who would leave a client to fend for himself.

    "I know he typically cares about his clients. I can't imagine he did this because he didn't care," Langford said.

    Todd Leventhal, a partner at Flangas Law Offices who practices criminal, civil and family law, said clients put all their trust in their lawyers and rely on them to act professionally.

    Lawyers have a sworn duty to gather evidence, hire expert witnesses and private investigators and spend as much time as possible with their client.

    "If I'm in a murder trial, I would see my client daily to talk to him. It's not just the first day (of a trial). It goes beyond that," Leventhal said.

    During Tuesday's hearing, Lino, who faces a life sentence, said he had trouble contacting Lerner. Lino said he even had family members try to contact Lerner but they too had no luck.

    Lerner has said he couldn't attend the trial because he was out of state. Lerner said he did contact chief deputy district attorney Roy Nelson to try and work out a deal and get the case continued.

    But Leventhal said that excuse didn't hold much weight with him.

    "If I couldn't get a case continued, I'd be on a plane back" to Las Vegas, he said.

    Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara @reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.

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    Maroon wrote on February 06, 2008 09:41 AM: Hey John. No one keeps tacks in sheds(Its tools). You are not too bright yourself.


    hesh rostow wrote on February 02, 2008 12:04 PM: NO ATTORNEY SHOLD BE EXCUSED FROM HIS DUTY TO HIS CLIENT AND THE COURT.. IF LERNER DID WHAT WAS ALLEGED, HE SHOUHLD BE LEGALLY BROUGHT TO JUSTICE, INCLUDING CRIMIMNAL SANCTIIONS.. HROSTOW


    Bob wrote on January 28, 2008 10:21 AM: I Thought lerner was going to do a good job so I hired his firm and a year later (YES ONE CALL" THATS ALL") so where is the rest of calls go just same place his apperance in court on murder trial Not presant. What a flake.


    cinzia wrote on January 28, 2008 08:56 AM: "Lawyers have a sworn duty to gather evidence, hire expert witnesses and private investigators and spend as much time as possible with their client." If only this was how the majority of local Attorneys felt and performed. But we all know it's about the money, on both sides.


    john wrote on January 28, 2008 08:05 AM: Hey RJ, in case you couldn't tell from talking to him, Geer is not the sharpest tack in the shed. You should look elsewhere for legal advice.


    LJS wrote on January 27, 2008 06:34 PM: Glen Lerner needs to grow up. Judge Leavitt needs to follow through all the way on this one. Celebs today get away with too many things just because they are who they are. Its time that the justice system TREATS everyone equal. The common working person wouldn't get away with a tenth of what these jerks get away with. Treat all non law abiding people the same and maybe we could end some of this stupidity. Glen Lerner, B. Spears, and O.J. are just a few examples of pure STUPID. Do your job Judge Leavitt and maybe an example will be set. I'm sick of all the stupid.


    oldlawdawg wrote on January 27, 2008 03:48 PM: According to the court's own records in this case as made available on line by the county, GLEN IS NOT COUNSEL FO RECORD IN THIS CASE EVEN THOUGH THE JUDGE ORDERED HIM TO COMPLETE CERTAIN TASKS, APPARENTLY BASED UPON STATEMENTS MADE BY THE REAL ATTORNEY OF RECORD AT THE HEARING ON HIS MOTIOON TO WITHDRAWAL. The judge was WRONG to rely on the representations of one attorney seeking to withdraw as to representation by another attorney who was not even there. This is hard to believe of Glen no matter whatever else you all might want to say about him. I do not believe hge was counsel of record, and if that is, in fact, the case, I do not blame him for not returning to defend somebody who is not even his client.


    THE HEAVY QUITTER wrote on January 27, 2008 02:14 PM: Lerner is an ambulance chasing hack! Go back to law school you stupid boob!


    discosis wrote on January 27, 2008 01:05 PM: It appears the Glen Lerner trolls have arrived on this board. Prior to this incident, the joke in the local legal community is that Glen Lerner couldn't find his way to the courthouse. I guess now there is more truth to that than anyone realized. Why didn't Glen Lerner send one of his paralegals? They do all his work for him anyway back at the office (and, by the way, the paralegals reportedly never bother to tell the clients they aren't real attorneys.) Finally, you can't get through a Glen Lerner discussion without mentioning his cheesy TV ads. While the State Bar might have gone to far in characterizing them as "misleading", I think the argument could be made that the only misleading thing about them are Mr. Lerner's hair plugs.


    Mouthpiece wrote on January 27, 2008 12:45 PM: How about "The Heavy Quitter"?


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