Lawyer was drunk in court
A Swedish lawyer has been fined and received a formal warning after turning up drunk to court.
Suspicions were raised after judges at the court in Värmland county thought that the lawyer was behaving erratically. Despite this, the case was allowed to continue. When one of the judges spoke to the lawyer after the hearing he detected the smell of alcohol on his breath.
This was not the first time the lawyer had been caught drunk on the job.
He had been cautioned last year by the Swedish Bar Association (Advokatsamfundet) after failing to turn up to a trial. Police found him in his office, drunk and barely able to communicate, reports Nya Wermlands-Tidning.
Following the latest incident, the lawyer was fined 10,000 kronor by the Bar Association and received a formal warning. The fine and the warning were the most severe the association can levy on a lawyer short of striking off.
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Suspicions were raised after judges at the court in Värmland county thought that the lawyer was behaving erratically. Despite this, the case was allowed to continue. When one of the judges spoke to the lawyer after the hearing he detected the smell of alcohol on his breath.
This was not the first time the lawyer had been caught drunk on the job.
He had been cautioned last year by the Swedish Bar Association (Advokatsamfundet) after failing to turn up to a trial. Police found him in his office, drunk and barely able to communicate, reports Nya Wermlands-Tidning.
Following the latest incident, the lawyer was fined 10,000 kronor by the Bar Association and received a formal warning. The fine and the warning were the most severe the association can levy on a lawyer short of striking off.
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