Connecticut attorney Norm Pattis' law license was suspended for six months. Pattis has represented many controversial clients, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Jones was found responsible for more than $1 billion in damages for claiming the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis found Pattis shared sensitive medical records about the families of Sandy Hook victims during their cases against Jones. An attorney for the family told Jones about the leak in court, in one of the trial’s most-seen moments.
Bellis called his actions an “abject failure” and “inexcusable.”
“We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect, but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency,” the judge wrote. “There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs' most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for the respondent's misconduct.”
In a tweet, Pattis said he would reserve his comments for appeal.
