Attorney Matthew Murray of Charlottesville, VA; ethical goblin

The state of Virginia presented Matthew B Murray with a law license in 1975 after he graduated from Northwestern University Law School.

The Virginia State Bar has charged Matthew with the following misconduct.

Matthew was previously forced to pay a $542,000 sanction imposed against him in 2011 for his part in attempting to prevent access to a client’s Facebook account during a multi-million-dollar wrongful death lawsuit. It is his conduct in this matter that is now under review by the State Bar.

Matthew’s actions came about during a December 2010 wrongful death trial involving his client, Isaiah Lester against Allied Concrete, which resulted in a $8.5 million award to Lester and the parent’s of Lester’s wife.

The driver of the cement truck crossed the centerline and tipped over the Lesters’ vehicle, which subsequently led to the death of Jessica Lester. The cement truck driver pled guilt y to manslaughter, which led Matthew to file suit against Allied Concrete.

As the lawsuit progressed, Lester posted a photo on Facebook with him holding a beer and wearing a T-shirt with the message “I love hot moms.”

Subsequently, Matthew instructed a paralegal in his office to tell Lester to clean up his Facebook page to avoid the photos and other information from being brought to trial, an instruction Matthew well knew violated court rules. Attorneys for Allied Concrete eventually obtained the photos prior to the trial. However, emails between Matthew, his paralegal and Lester were not made available to the court until after the trial.

Trial Judge Edward L. Hogshire then ordered Matthew and Lester to pay $722,000 to the legal teams representing Allied Concrete as reimbursement of legal fees incurred as a consequence of Murray and Lester’s conduct.

All that’s left now is to see what punishment Matthew receives for his egregious misconduct.

As we speak (ca. September 2013), Matthew practices at 2100 Rio Hill Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.