Famed attorney Gloria Allred continues her habit of rarely representing her clients in court. The only time she seems to represent her clients is in front of television cameras.
According to Radaronline.com, Allred filed a motion in Miami to withdraw as counsel to Shaquille O’Neal’s former mistress, Vanessa Lopez, citing fraud.
Allred wrote in her motion: “Despite engaging in all reasonable, diligent and exhaustive effort on behalf of the client, counsel must withdraw as continued representation will likely result in one or more ethical violations…”
Allred cited a section of the Florida bar Rules of Professional Conduct that covers fraud committed by clients:
“When a lawyer must decline or terminate representation, the representation will result in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct or law, the client persists in a course of action involving the lawyer’s services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent, unless the client agrees to disclose and rectify the crime and or fraud, or the client has used the lawyer’s services to perpetrate as a crime or fraud, unless the client agrees to disclose and rectify the crime or fraud.”
In addition to Allred’s motion, the Florida lawyers who were representing Lopez on the case were also included in the motion to withdraw their services, according to Radar Online.
A judge signed off on the motion and ordered Lopez to find new attorneys to represent her.
Lopez filed a lawsuit against the NBA superstar in Miami Dade County in 2010. In her lawsuit she accused O’Neal of “racketeering, invasion of privacy, and intentional inflection of emotional distress,” after their illicit romance turned sour.
Lopez alleges that O’Neal engaged in a pattern of harassing behavior after she told him she might be pregnant with his seed. O’Neal, 41, was
dating former reality TV star Nikki “Hoopz” Alexander at the time.
The former Laker and Miami Heat star was married to reality show producer Shaunie Nelson, who filed for divorce in 2010, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple have 4 children together.
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