Judge John Donald of Memphis; bully, lifetime porker

The state of Tennessee presented John A. Donald with a law license in 1975 after he graduated from Howard University Law School.

Johnny has spent the last twenty-seven (27) years with his snout firmly implanted in the public trough while sitting as General Sessions Judge in Shelby County. Apparently, no self-respect law firm in the greater Memphis area was about to offer Johnny a good paying job.

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct charged Johnny with the following misconduct.

Johnny is alleged to have retaliated against attorney David Gold and a second lawyer after Mr. Gold filed an ethics complaint against Johnny.

In its complaint, the Judicial Board characterized Johnny as a petty, vindictive judge who refused to allow Mr. Gold to adequately litigate a case before him and then retaliated against Gold when he complained about his conduct.

In retaliating against Mr. Gold, Johnny filed a sham ethics complaint against him with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. However, Johnny’s sham complaint was summarily dismissed by the Board.

During a phone interview with Marc Perrusquia of the Commercial Appeal, attorney Gold said other attorneys are tired of Judge Donald’s bullying from the bench. Gold went on to say:

“There are lawyers standing behind me who support me.”

“His attitude towards me was tyrannical.”

“I fear that if I appear in his Court again, he will continue his path of hatred and dislike thereby prejudicing future cases I have before him.”

All that’s left now is to see what if any punishment the Tennessee Supreme Court meets out to Judge John “The Bully” Donald.

As we speak (ca. Nov. 2013), Johnny remains sitting on the bench as a general Sessions Judge in Shelby County.