New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Personal Injury Lawyer Disbarment

The New Hampshire Supreme Court is upholding the disbarment of a personal injury lawyer who made a settlement demand without his clients’ consent and threatened to drop the case on the morning of mediation unless they paid him a $2 million fee.

The court called Attorney Timothy O’Meara’s conduct egregious and said the biggest injury he caused was to the integrity of the legal profession. O’Meara, who practices law in both New Hampshire and Vermont, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

O’Meara represented a New Hampshire woman who was rendered a paraplegic after being rear-ended by a paving truck in 2005.

The court says O’Meara also lied to the Professional Conduct Committee about whether the woman’s family agreed from the outset to pay him $2 million.