United States v. Gabriel Llanez-Garcia

OPINION

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge.

An attorney’s reputation is her most valuable possession. It forms the basis for her peers’ view of her and plays an important role — often a determinative one — in how she advances in her career. This case began with a government attorney’s unauthorized filing of a motion for sanctions against Debra K. Migdal, an attorney who has served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for nearly 25 years. It quickly took on a life of its own, resulting in two district-court orders strongly, publicly, and, we conclude, erroneously reprimanding Migdal. Because the…