Top Air Force Lawyer Had Been Disbarred (since 1984, and no one knew?)

[maddezmom]

top Air Force lawyer who served at the White House and in a senior position in Iraq turns out to have been practicing law for 23 years without a license.

Col. Michael D. Murphy was most recently commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency at Bolling Air Force Base in the District.

He was the general counsel for the White House Military Office from December 2001 to January 2003, and from August 2003 to January 2005. In between those tours, he was the legal adviser to the reconstruction effort in Iraq, an Air Force spokesman said.

Murphy later served in 2005 as commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.

He was relieved of his command at Bolling on Nov. 30 after the Air Force learned that he had been disbarred for professional misconduct in Texas in 1984 but hadn't informed his superiors, according to Air Force Times, an independent newspaper that first reported the action. It said that his status was discovered in the course of an unrelated review.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/09/AR2006120900833.html

[maddezmom]

1. more

Air Force colonel who practiced law never had valid law license
JAGs now required to prove they're in good standing with bar association

By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, December 9, 2006



ARLINGTON, Va. — Col. Michael D. Murphy was one of the Air Force’s top legal eagles. He practiced law for 23 years, even serving as commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School in 2005.

There was just one problem with Murphy, commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency in Washington. Throughout his military career, he never had a valid law license.

Murphy was relieved of his command Nov. 30, after Air Force legal officials came across information from the State Bar of Texas indicating that he had been disbarred in 1983.

Because of his situation, disclosed by Air Force legal authorities, all Air Force lawyers now have until Dec. 31 to show their supervisors “visual proof” that they are members in good standing in a state or federal bar association, according to Air Force spokeswoman Jean Schaeffer.

more:http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=42052