A client has complained about being called a "small penis asshole" by his US lawyer.

A filing by the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission accuses Donald Franz of having engaged in abusive behaviour when Mike Rutlowski objected to a $400 bill Franz sent him for work he had done reducing Rutlowski's tax liability.

The hearing board was told that over the following days Franz sent Rutlowski a string of texts and emails in which he unilaterally raised his bill to $500 and then $600, threatened to sue, "insulted Rutlowski's manhood and choice of automobiles" and called him a "small penis asshole".

Franz then told his client that fee arrangements were "not required between men. My mistake, there is only one man involved between us. I challenge you to a duel, you pick the time, place and manner".

    "What a tiny gun y-"

In his response Franz said that his words had been taken out of context and that he followed his offer of a duel with, "I choose small claims court. See you very soon". He also denied insulting Rutlowski's manhood and choice of car. However he did not offer an explanation for having called his client a lightly-endowed sphincter, noting only that "the content of the emails speaks for itself".

Franz scores a two on the Candid Solicitor Scale:

Level
 Severity
 Example
 1
 Tame  Referring to a former client as a "nutter"  
 2
 Blimey  Telling a client he is a "small penis asshole"  
 3   Ew  Describing women as "gash"
 
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Comments

Anonymous 24 July 15 10:30

poor drafting. I presume there was supposed to be a comma in the insult, but actually, I can't workout where it was supposed to go. I think I prefer "small, penis asshole" to "small penis, asshole".

Anonymous 27 July 15 04:33

Poor comment. Work out as a verb is two words, not one. And the commas only work if Franz was writing to his client, rather than about him. People in glass houses really shouldn't take showers with the lights on. Especially if they have small penises.

Anonymous 30 July 15 16:24

anonymous @ 03:33 - Your comment about the commas makes no sense, grammatical or otherwise. You also can't start a sentence with "And". "Especially if they have small penises" is not a sentence either. More important is the following: What were you doing commenting on RoF at 3.33am?

Anonymous 31 July 15 08:33

Oh, Anon. People do practice law in parts of the world that don't observe Greenwich Mean Time. And I think you'll find I CAN start a sentence with "and". See?