Do not conclude I am equating an attorney to a prostitute. I’m not. Jerene Dildene started working as an escort when a divorce and cutback in work hours (teaching Spanish in area pubic school) created financial hardship. Initially she searched Craigslist for part time work. She became a bikini model. On one modeling job, the client apparently asked her if she would exchange sex for money. She did and then created a prostitution website offering sex for $300/hr.
“I had a lot of doctors, lawyers, professors, retirees, single people who didn’t have time to date. I liked it. It was very empowering. I had control over my life and I had options.”
Attorney Sean Saxon worked for years in Denver handling pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.
Saxon, a married man, became Dildene’s client in 2013. They soon became romantically involved.
Saxon did not appreciate Dildene’s continuing her current career. Dildene broke off the relationship. Saxon continued stalking her. He threatened to “expose” her career to her family members.
Saxon eventually followed through on his threats. He sent a letter to Dildine’s mother, father, brother and other relatives describing her life as a prostitute, including revealing sexual photos and online reviews. He sent the same packet to her classmates and a teacher at an aesthetician school.
Dildine considered suicide.
She eventually filed a civil lawsuit and bar complaint.
Saxon defended himself, arguing he had a First Amendment right to free speech.
A Denver court disagreed. They awarded $1.7 M to Dildene.
Saxon wrote:
“I am deeply sorry I became involved with Jerene Dildine, most of all because I betrayed my family. I profoundly regret much of the language I used in my communications when I exposed Ms. Dildine as a prostitute to people who know her. All the material I sent was true and was taken from Ms. Dildine’s own marketing materials that she placed on the internet and sent to her clients to promote her business. I am appealing the jury’s decision. I do not believe that Ms. Dildine should be allowed to recover damages because of embarrassment over having her illegal conduct exposed.”
The State Supreme Court suspended Saxon’s law license for three years. His former law firm fired him.
Dildene was never a legal client of Saxon. So, he had no professional obligation to maintain confidentiality. But, the Bar noted:
“Through this conduct, Saxon violated Colo. RPC 8.4(b) (a lawyer shall not commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects) and Colo. RPC 8.4(h) (a lawyer shall not engage in any conduct that directly, intentionally, and wrongfully harms others and that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness to practice law). Saxon later violated a protective order that the same woman had obtained,
leading to his conviction of a class-two misdemeanor. This conduct transgressed Colo. RPC 3.4(c) (a lawyer shall not knowingly disobey an obligation under the rules of a tribunal).”
Licensing boards have broad discretion to adjudicate whether a professional meets its criteria for, well, professionalism. This is true in the legal word. It’s true in the medical world. And professionalism is never explicitly defined.
What do you think?
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Professionalism, like love, obscenity, and whether music sounds good aren’t explicitly defined. Asked whether a piece of music was good, the large, great Louis Armstrong answered “if it sounds good, it is good.”
Anyone know how to define “love”? For that matter, take a wild swing at defining the word, “time.” Looks easy, doesn’t it? It’s just about impossible.
Agree. Definition of professionalism varies among different fields of industry and services. However, the concept of moral turpitude and professionalism often overlap. Moral turpitude has different resonance when an individual is being questioned by a licensing board, as opposed to a court of law before a judge or jury.
We enjoy wide range of rights in a court of law and we think we can “prove” our case to licensing boards when we often forget a license is a privilege not a right; and that boards do not have to prove “beyond reasonable doubt”. That’s where the definition of professionalism becomes fluid and murky
Of interest, “The State Supreme Court suspended Saxon’s law license for three years”, but not the state bar? Never knew that courts have a suspension power over professional license. It is not like a drivers license where a traffic court could suspend for drunk driving.
He behaved like a dick. Just because a woman refused his requests, he decided to punish her. i’m surprised but glad the law board decided to punish him. He was a hypocrite when he tried to argue that she did something illegal. He hired HER! By attacking her, he had to admit his crime but he obviously doesn’t understand that simple fact and is totally unrepentant.
Agreed, Marguerite: I know unprofessional when I see it. Saxon’s photo should be in the dictionary next to whatever passes for the definition these days. I guess he missed the class in law school where they discuss the concept of someone being an “accessory” to a crime.
Your diagnosis is spot on: the guy’s a dick.
Saxon sexting with a Dildene. There may have been some happy endings, but stud-muffin got what he deserved. I agree with the Marguerite Barnett – this represents the definition of dickish behavior.