Did anyone else miss the "having sex with a client is a no-no" in law school?" Don't public defenders know that the mirrors are two-way?
Former King County public defender Theresa Olson has agreed to give up practicing law for a year for having sex with her client in a high-profile triple-murder case last summer in the King County Jail.
The disciplinary board of the state Bar Association voted 9-1 Friday to accept the settlement, which includes Olson seeking a psychological evaluation and completing a year of professional probation when she returns to the courtroom.
The Bar Association has sent the agreement to the state Supreme Court to approve, but it would be unusual for the court to reject such a settlement, said Judy Berrett, a spokesman for the association.
"She's an excellent lawyer and she's hoping to get this behind her and move on and get back to practicing law," said David Allen, Olson's attorney.
Olson, 44, was suspended from her job at The Defender Association, the county's largest public-defense firm, last August after jail guards reported that they saw her having sex with Sebastian Burns, 27, in an interview room at the jail. She was Burns' lead counsel in his trial in the 1994 slayings of Tariq and Sultana Rafay and their daughter, Basma, in their Bellevue home.
Olson was promptly removed from the case, and the county filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her and The Defender Association seeking repayment for the costs of finding a new lawyer for Burns and subsequent delays in his trial.
Attorney Robert Boruchowitz, director of The Defender Association, said, Olson resigned her job at the agency a few months ago, ending her unpaid suspension. "Theresa Olson is a fine attorney, and we appreciate the 16 years of dedicated representation she gave to our office and our clients," he said.
In the settlement, Olson agreed that she had "sexual contact" with Burns, but not sexual intercourse, her attorney said. But she agreed with the rest of the professional-ethics allegations.
In deciding whether a suspension was appropriate, instead of disbarrment, the association said that Olson is an experienced lawyer who should have known better than selfishly take advantage of a vulnerable person - since Burns was locked up and had no choice of lawyers.
On the other hand, the board said, Olson had not been disciplined before and has been cooperative and remorseful.
The board also pointed out that a similar recent case resulted in the same punishment: Three years ago, the state Supreme Court suspended attorney Lowell Halverson, a former Bar Associatoin president, for a year for having a sexual relationship with a client he represented in a divorce case.
For the past year, Olson has been working on civil-law cases, but wants to return to criminal-defense work after her suspension is over, Allen said. It hasn't been decided what firm she might work for. Allen didn't say what Olson would do for the year she cannot practice law.
sex with client is bad
