Chapter 14 - Paul Hensley
Paul Hensley was seventy-two.
Retired from active practice.
Still listed as of counsel.
He agreed to a deposition after receiving a preservation notice and consulting his own attorney.
He looked smaller than I remembered.
Five years earlier he had seemed like an extension of my father.
Now he looked like a tired old man with expensive glasses.
Grace’s attorney asked:
“Did Warren Cole instruct you to create a letter purporting to be from Grace Mercer?”
Paul said:
“He instructed me to prepare communications reflecting the intended settlement.”
“Did Grace authorize that specific letter?”
“No.”
“Did Nathan know it was drafted by your office?”
“No.”
“Did you know he would believe Grace wrote it?”
Pause.
“Yes.”
There.
“Did you tell Grace she was legally prohibited from contacting Nathan?”
“I told her contact could create litigation risk.”
“Did you tell her the family might seek emergency custody?”
“Yes.”
“Was there any filed custody petition?”
“No.”
“Any legal basis at that time for Warren Cole to take custody of an unborn child?”
Paul’s lawyer objected.
Paul answered anyway.
“Not directly.”
There.
“Did you understand Grace might interpret your statements as meaning the family already had legal authority?”
“Yes.”
“Did you correct that?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Paul looked toward me.
“Warren wanted separation.”
Not:
law required it.
Warren wanted it.
That sentence stayed with me.
Paul later entered a disciplinary agreement with the state bar.
No criminal prosecution for the letter.
But professional sanctions for misleading conduct and misuse of legal threats became possible after the evidence surfaced.
He accepted a public censure and retired fully rather than contesting additional proceedings.
Not prison.
Appropriate.
Lawyers have power because people believe their statements carry law inside them.
May you like
Paul abused that difference.
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