Dakota County District Court Judge Timothy Blakely will lose his robe if the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards gets its way. The Board has recommended that the 46-year-old jurist be removed from the bench.
Blakely got a substantial discount on his divorce fees — more than $60,000 — after steering mediation and other work to his divorce attorney, and implying in a chain of e-mails that he he would continue to refer work to her in the future.
Blakely racked up a total of $108,776 in legal fees for his divorce representation, paying off about $45,000. The firm wrote off around $63,000. Blakely’s personal attorney for most of the representation was Christine Stroemer of the firm of Collins, Buckley, Sauntry & Haugh PLLP.
In a letter to the board, Blakely acknowledged that a reasonable inference could be drawn from his e-mail correspondence to Stroemer that he was offering a quid pro quo — business referrals for the firm in exchange for a reduced fee on his divorce representation. (He also added in the letter that he “did not recall” that being his intention.)
In recommending to the Minnesota Supreme Court that Blakely be removed from office, the Board wrote: “Under the relevant circumstances, removal is an appropriate and necessary sanction to assure that Judge Blakely’s conduct, or the conduct of other judges in the future, will not be condoned, and to restore public confidence in the judiciary.”
Click here for the full board opinion.
More in-depth coverage is available to Minnesota Lawyer subscribers here.
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