I'll be frank. I believe Nelly Wince
should be disbarred as a lawyer and probably spend time in jail. She
has committed crimes and has willfully and repeatedly broken her
ethical oath as a lawyer. Furthermore, she has done so in a
particularly egregious and, what can only be termed, vicious manner.
Sadly for society and to the
embarrassment of ethical lawyers, she continues to practice law. She
continues to inflict pain and suffering on the innocent.
So now you know my opinion of Nelly
Wince. But it is not just my opinion. I have been told by other
lawyers who have argued cases against her that her methods are
unethical as well. One lawyer told me that he didn't even need to
look at the evidence of her lying in court to believe me as he was
very familiar with the way she operated. Another told me that she
would not refer people to Wince as she disagreed with her methods.
It boggles my mind how anyone but
especially a lawyer (who is an officer of the court) can
act in such flagrantly bad manner. And it isn't like it was one
instance, it happened over and over again.
It is of course difficult to prove that
Nelly Wince acted unethically and criminally but significantly I do
have hard evidence for one particular court appearance which, I
believe, is about as strong as one can have. So how is it that Wince
not only avoided punishment but actually benefited financially from
her actions? In a phrase - institutional corruption. Lying and
criminal fraud are so common in the divorce process that it has
become just the way it works.
I highly doubt Nelly Wince feels like
she has done anything wrong. In her view she is just being a strong
advocate and is doing no worse than anyone else. I am sure she
believes she is a very nice, yet tough, person.
In many countries bribery is endemic.
If you want a building permit you have to provide a “gift” to the
official that issues the permit. Similar to Nelly Wince, those
officials don't think they are doing anything wrong. They believe
the “gift” is part of their compensation.
And it isn't as if in the United States
we don't passively accept a certain amount of similar activity. How
many major sporting event seats are purchased by corporation to give as
“gifts” to their clients? I have been unable to find a reliable
number but it is certainly a large percentage. Those corporation do
not give those tickets away to charity; they give them to clients and they expect a return on the investment.
What is so bad about Nelly Wince's
actions is that isn't just passive, it is overt. Although there is no
law against lying in court by a lawyer, the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct which lawyers have sworn to uphold clearly state that knowingly
making a false statement is a violation and a serious one at that.
However the reality is that many lawyers, including Nelly Wince,
believe that the rules are for show only are are not enforced. The
fact that the Minnesota Office of Professional Responsibility did not
take any action against Nelly Wince shows that she is correct. This
is what I mean when I state that the divorce industry itself is
institutionally corrupt.
The story of Bernie Madoff is similar in many ways. Madoff, who ran a wealth management firm,
plead guilty in 2009 to running an elaborate Ponzi scheme and was
sentenced to 150 years in prison. For many years before he was
prosecuted it was well know that he was participating in illegal
activities but it was ignored. Not long prior to his
arrest, Madoff was at the hight of his profession, even having served
as the non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. Madoff was
respectable. And because of his prestige, success and wealth he was
left alone for far too long. Indeed it was neither the SEC nor
industry self-regulators that caught Madoff. For years Harry Markopolos, a Boston financial analyst, had repeatedly warned that
Madoff's firm was a fraud. He even approached the Wall Street
Journal but they declined to investigate. Eventually with the
financial crisis in late 2008, Madoff couldn't hold his scheme
together anymore and it unraveled on him. In the end Madoff was
sentenced to a century and half in prison and three people, including
one of Madoff's sons, committed suicide over the matter.
Bernie Madoff primarily hurt wealthy
investors. Nelly Wince hurts good people, many of modest means, and
innocent children. Her actions devastate lives. The judges and Ethics
board members that protect her have taught many, including the
children of the victims, that rule by law is not followed in the
justice system. That is what makes her actions so tragic for our
society.
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