Yesterday's West Virginia Record reports on a lawsuit filed last month in state circuit court by suspended lawyer David Harless against a prominent Charleston (WV) lawyer, Scott Segal. (The West Virginia Record last month detailed background on the case and on the suspension of Harless who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.) State Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis is Segal's wife. Harless' lawsuit claims that Segal, Davis and others have conspired to keep his law license suspended because of a note regarding religion he left at Segal's office. Segal, who is Jewish, says that Harless has been trying to convert him and several other Jewish lawyers in the area to Christianity, using threatening approaches. Segal's defense will include testimony from numerous members of the Jewish community who have felt threatened by Harless. Now, in a pre-emptive move, Segal has filed a motion to disqualify Kanawha Circuit Judge Louis Bloom from hearing the case. Bloom is also Jewish, and Segal fears that if Harless loses at trial, he will use Bloom's religion on appeal to claim a Jewish conspiracy is responsible.
UPDATE: The May 7 West Virginia Record reports that Judge Bloom said, in a letter to the state's chief justice, that while he does not believe his religion is grounds for recusal, nevertheless he will recuse himself on the ground that both parties to the case are lawyers who have appeared before him in the past, and are likely to in the future.
UPDATE 2: The May 12 West Virginia Record reports that Circuit Judge Alan D. Moats has been appointed by the state Supreme Court to preside over the trial.
