A Tucson attorney accused of sending a female client a text of his genitals and offering to cancel her bill if she slept with him has been banned from practicing law in Arizona.
The Arizona State Bar announced on Thursday the disbarment of attorney Scott Lieberman, 45, who has been investigated at least three times since 2012 for sexual misconduct involving clients.
One of the misconduct charges for which Lieberman was disbarred involved lewd conduct with a female client he represented in a child custody case.
“During representation, Lieberman sent his client a text message asking her, ‘would you rather have sex and not pay at all?’ the state bar news release said.
“He made similar statements to his client over the phone and sent at least one text message with a picture of his genitals,” it said.
It does not appear the woman took him up on his offer. Lieberman “was paid $17,000,” for his work on the woman’s case, the news release said.
Lieberman couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. His phone number, as listed on the state bar website, was connected to a voicemail system that was full and could not accept new messages.
Three other misconduct charges cited as reasons for Lieberman’s disbarment include failure to comply with multiple superior court orders; failure to file a final order on a client’s behalf and abandoning a client who paid him a $5,000 retainer to handle a child custody case.
Thursday’s disbarment announcement came less than a year after the state bar announced a separate three-year license suspension against Lieberman for having a sexual relationship with a different female client, and for lying to a state bar investigator during a 2012 sexual misconduct investigation.
In the 2012 investigation, “Lieberman informed the state bar that he had never had a sexual relationship with a client. That assertion was false,” the 2017 bar ruling said.
Lieberman has been licensed to practice law in Arizona since 2006, his state bar profile says. He became a lawyer in 2000 after graduating from Capital University Law School in Ohio.
Once disbarred, an Arizona attorney is out of the legal business for at least five years. That’s the required waiting period before seeking permission from the state supreme court to return to practice.
