Suspended for cussing

Here's an item from the Tarheel State this a.m., courtesy of the Daily Alert from our colleagues at North Carolina Lawyers Weekly:

A lawyer down there has been suspended from practicing law in Wake County for a year, reports the Raleigh News & Observer. His offense: He cussed at a court clerk.

Lawyers here will recall that back in April, in the case of In re Moseley, the Supreme Court of Virginia upheld the power of a local circuit court to suspend or revoke a lawyer's privilege to practice before it.

That's basically what happened down in N.C. According to the N&O, a Wake County superior court judge found that a lawyer named Mark A. Key had sworn at a court clerk and walked away from a client before a hearing over a payment dispute. His privilege to practice in Wake was suspended for a year. The N.C. Supreme Court declined to take the case; Key said he will serve the suspension at an agreed-upon later time.