Pittsburgh attorney fined over failure to appear
A Washington County judge held a Pittsburgh defense attorney in contempt Thursday following his failure to appear two weeks earlier to represent a client in a proceeding.
Judge Valarie Costanzo also ordered Christopher Urbano, 41, to pay a $200 fine during the unusual proceeding.
She’d ordered the contempt hearing the same day Urbano failed to appear for a pretrial conference in two cases where he represents Nicholas J. Murphy, 36, for whom court records list addresses in Johnstown and New Eagle.
Murphy had been brought up from the county jail for the March 8 proceeding. He said he hadn’t been in contact with Urbano and didn’t know where his lawyer was, Assistant District Attorney John P. Friedmann related during the hearing this week.
Urbano’s attorney, Dennis Popojas, contended his client didn’t believe he needed to attend the hearing because he didn’t plan to raise any further issues before the trial, which was previously scheduled to begin this week.
He also said Urbano struggles with managing the cases his solo practice takes on.
“This wasn’t an attempt to slight the court,” Popojas said. “This wasn’t an attempt to slight your order.”
In Pennsylvania, attorneys are required to notify the state Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel in the event they’re held in contempt.
Thursday’s hearing wasn’t the first for Urbano over absenteeism for a court date in Washington County. Judge Michael J. Lucas held a similar proceeding Dec. 18.
Lucas – who was assigned to hear Murphy’s cases at the time – ordered the hearing following Urbano’s failure to appear for a Nov. 30 pretrial conference. Lucas chose then not to hold Urbano in contempt.
“After reading all of this, and it happening a few months later, I don’t know how the court can ignore it,” Costanzo said.
Murphy faces charges including terroristic threats and simple assault stemming from incidents in Carroll Township and New Eagle last year.
Popojas suggested Urbano could work with a consultant to address the problems with case management and could benefit from the additional guidance.
“He has the ability to turn that around if you give him this opportunity,” Popojas said.
Urbano apologized repeatedly and told Costanzo he’d already taken steps – including reducing his caseload – to improve the way he manages cases.
“The reality is I understand I need to be much more careful, pay more attention when orders come in,” he said.
Friedmann noted it wasn’t only in Washington County where Urbano’s failed to show up in a case.
In late November 2016, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported he spent six days in jail after Allegheny County Judge Philip A. Ignelzi found him in contempt. He reportedly failed to return in time from North Carolina for a court proceeding.
Ignelzi took action after Urbano sent another lawyer, who reportedly said he was uncomfortable proceeding, to what was supposed to have been the first day of a nonjury trial in a client’s rape case.
Ignelzi also ordered Urbano to pay costs related to the travel of victims, witnesses and a co-defendant’s family, according to the Post-Gazette.
Friedmann said attorneys voluntarily accept that they have to adhere to a higher standard of conduct.
“This is not the type of behavior we, as attorneys, are expected to do,” Friedmann said after the hearing. “We have an obligation to our clients, we have an obligation to the court, we have an obligation to the pursuit of justice. And all of that takes a backseat when we don’t appear in court when ordered.”