The judicial oversight panel that has asserted former York County Probate Judge Robert M.A. Nadeau broke judicial canons during his tenure as a judge said Nadeau’s expressions of remorse have come too late.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ordered that Nadeau’s license to practice law in Maine be suspended for two years and that he pay a $5,000 fine.
Nadeau filed a motion in July asking the court to reconsider, so it stayed the suspension, originally slated to go into effect Aug. 1, to Sept. 15.
The justices found Nadeau violated judicial canons when he directed probate court staff not to make court appointments to seven attorneys; removed a previously appointed attorney from pending cases; issued orders urging litigants appearing before him to lobby for increased court time, and personally solicited campaign contributions for his 2016 election campaign, according to the court’s June 20 opinion.
The Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability filed a response to Nadeau’s request for reconsideration. It noted that the court itself said Nadeau had not fully acknowledged the intemperate nature of his decisions.
“Nadeau’s newfound expressional of remorse comes too late to cause the court to alter its sanction,” Cabanne Howard, the director of the judicial oversight panel, wrote.
Howard wrote that, contrary to Nadeau’s assertions, his due process rights were not violated and by entertaining his reconsideration the court is giving him further notice and opportunity to argue against the suspension of his license.
Howard also noted that Nadeau’s argument that suspending his law license would impose a severe burden on his clients and that the suspension was greater than the panel had recommended doesn’t hold water.
The purpose of regulation is to protect clients, just as the purpose of regulation of judicial behavior is the protection of the public in general, Howard wrote.
As to the court imposing a greater penalty than recommended, Howard said the practice is quote common.
The judicial oversight committee had recommended Nadeau be suspended for two years only if he announced as a candidate for judicial office.
Nadeau’s website lists his office in Bedford, New Hampshire, and makes no mention of a Biddeford office he maintained until recently.
An order signed by Maine Chief Justice Leigh Saufley gives a Friday, Aug. 11, deadline for Nadeau to reply to the judicial panel’s assertions.