Justice Charles Johnson of WA; apologist for crooked lawyers

The state of Rhode Island presented Milan T. Azar with a law license in 1974 after he graduated from the University of Washington Law School.

The State Supreme Court is the final arbiter when it comes to meting out punishment to unethical attorneys.

One such case involved former attorney Diane VanDerbeek of Seattle who was found guilty of over-billing her clients by the Washington State Bar Disciplinary Board.

VanDerbeek padded her bills by charging hundreds of dollars for minor clerical work, or charging clients for time spent trying to collect money from them. She billed excessive and unreasonable fees for simple form pleadings, one-page letters, and notices of intent to withdraw.

VanDerbeek charged a woman with an abusive husband $350 for writing two simple documents, including a 1-1/2 page letter. She charged a woman facing a child-custody fight for phone conversation that never took place.

In another matter, VanDerbeek settled a lawsuit with 28 former clients over excessive billing for $200,000.

The Surpeme Court voted to disbar VanDerbeek; however, Charlie dissented by arguing that a 2-year suspension of her law license was sufficient punishment for a degenerate thief.

As we speak (ca. March 2014), Charles remains sitting as an Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court.