The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has suspended an attorney 18 months for excessive litigation after the lawyer lost an eviction case. After the defeat the lawyer filed cases in Superior Court, Probate Court, Small Claims Court, Bankruptcy Court, the US district court and the First Circuit Court of appeals. The filings continued after the client understandably terminated the representation. The lawyer was found to have violated Rule 1.1 (duty of competence), Rule 1.2(a) (failing to pursue client objectives), Rule 1.3 (failure to act with diligence and promptness), Rule 3.1 (frivolous litigation), Rule 8.4(d) (making arguments in new cases that had already been lost in prior cases), Rule 3.4(c) (disobeying court rules), Rule 8.4(d) (violating court orders, including an order to pay sanctions), and Rule 1.16(a) (failing to withdraw from representation when terminated by client). It would appear that the lawyer failed to file an appeal of the initial eviction court loss and then attempted to re-litigate that failure in other courts.
Source: In re Edward J. Collins, No. BD-2023-056