Parker Herring review: Unethical Practices

A Question Of Ethics

I would think that the law profession would be one that would have strict policies on proper ethical behavior for attorneys practicing in the profession wouldn't you? If taking the time to visit this site, please review the following scenario and let me know if you think what takes place in this scenario would be considered proper ethical behavior for this attorney or if it would be something that would be considered a violation of the ethical policies set forth by the NC State Bar. You can reply with your comments to Bob Kozec at this email address: [protected]@nc.rr.com

Suppose if you will that a man was trying to prove paternity so that he
could have legal rights to what he had always believed was his biological
child. And suppose that the woman that was the mother of this child was
trying to deny him of legal rights by opposing having a DNA test done to
prove paternity.

Now suppose that this woman went and hired an attorney to represent her.
When this attorney took on the case for this client she came right out and
asked her client...Is there any possibility at all that this person (the man
trying to prove paternity) is not the father of this child?

Now suppose that the client of the attorney told her that there is
absolutely no question or any possibility that this man is not the father,
and she further went on to tell the attorney that I do not wish him to be
led to believe otherwise.

Now suppose that with this knowledge, this attorney took it upon herself without her clients approval to state in an email to this man that her client was not sure if he was the father. And, she did this without her clients knowledge and against her wishes.

Now it gets even more complicated...
Suppose that based on what this attorney told him to be a material fact, the
man then believed that there was a strong possibilty that this child was not
his, then acted on that information given to him by her attorney and withdrew his
case for paternity and custody and lost all legal rights to pursue this
matter when it in fact turns out that the child in question is indeed the biological child of this man and he now has no legal rights to this child because of the lie that this attorney told him.

Do you think what this attorney did would be considered proper ethical
behavior for an attorney?

What view on this do you think the NC Bar Association would have on it?

I'm asking because I am the man that was involved in this scenario. The woman I was taking to court to try to prove paternity was Kristen Murphy and the attorney representing her and attempting to keep the court from granting me a paternity test to prove paternity so that I could be involved in my childs life was E. Parker Herring.

E. Parker Herring is a board certified specialist in family law and also practices adoption law. She is the founding member of the law firm of Herring, Mills & Kratt; PLLC. She is founder and co-director of A Child's Hope, a North Carolina licensed adoption agency, which focuses on placing North Carolina children with prospective adoptive parents in North Carolina.

I am very interested in your opinion in this matter. If you are an attorney and feel that there has been a violation of any existing laws and would be interested in representing me I'm very eager to speak with you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Bob Kozec
[protected]@nc.rr.com