The case is captioned:
IN RE: JONATHAN B. HUBER, Respondent
Arkansas Bar ID# 2008037
CPC Docket No. 2012-003
This case would not be worthy of reporting on this blog, but for the charges related to the attorney’s use of a false facebook name.
The Bar Committee found that the respondent violated Rule 8.4 because, in part, he used a fictitious name on the internet:
“1. That the conduct of Jonathan Huber violated Arkansas Rule 8.4(b) because during
September 2011, Respondent Huber (while using a fictitious name) engaged in criminal conduct
which involved sexual solicitation, a violation of ACA § 5-70-103, a Class B Misdemeanor.
This conduct constitutes a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty,
trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects. Arkansas Rule 8.4(b) provides that it is
professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the
lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.”
The Bar Committee further found:
“2. That the conduct of Jonathan Huber violated Arkansas Rule 8.4(c), because
Respondent Huber created and operated a FaceBook profile using a fictitious name to solicit
photos from women and then to ultimately engage in illegal solicitation of the women. Mr.
Huber admitted all of the conduct in his statement to the Investigator. Arkansas Rule 8.4(c)
requires that it is a professional misconduct to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
Comment: there is nothing wrong with this disciplinary case. The problem is that everyone who uses a dating service on the internet uses a fictitious name. This decision means that any lawyer who joins Match.com or another site and chooses a profile name other than his own name can be charged with deceit.
Edward X. Clinton, Jr.
Legal Ethics Lawyer 