Lawyers Forge Will, Sue Court for Defamation After It's Invalidated

A couple, both lawyers, forged a will that left half of a deceased person's estate to one child and the other half to the remaining children. The will was written in the handwriting of one of the lawyers, and both attested to the deceased's signature. The court, however, determined the will was a forgery. The male lawyer had previously been permanently suspended from the bar after convictions for fraud and misappropriating client funds, and the court found he had lied and provided contradictory accounts regarding the original will.

The female lawyer was found to have submitted a false affidavit, her testimony was deemed unreliable, and the court concluded that the couple's accounts were coordinated and changed as the proceedings evolved. The will was invalidated due to the forgery. The court, disturbed by the lawyers' conduct, ordered the ruling to be sent to the legal counsel of the Courts Administration for review of potential criminal and ethical repercussions.

Consequently, a disciplinary proceeding was initiated against the lawyers by the Bar Association. The lawyers, in turn, filed a lawsuit against the Courts Administration and the parties involved in the inheritance case. They asked the District Court to declare the personal findings against them in the ruling, which accused them of criminal and unethical behavior, as void. They argued they suffered a miscarriage of justice because they were not formal parties to the proceedings and were not given a full opportunity to defend themselves, question witnesses, or present evidence.

The case highlights a recurring issue: individuals who participate in legal proceedings as witnesses, rather than as directly represented parties, can be named in a ruling in a way that damages their reputation, without having the right to appeal. This creates a situation where a represented party can seek redress from a higher court, while an unrepresented witness faces a final judgment. A similar situation occurred with Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister, where rulings against her were challenged in the High Court of Justice, but the proceedings were dismissed based on the legal precedent that a person not party to a case cannot appeal findings made against them by a lower court.

This precedent prioritizes the public interest in finality of judgments and judicial independence over an individual's right to a good name. However, the law also protects witnesses by generally preventing civil lawsuits against them for lying under oath, to avoid deterring testimony. Despite these protections, the article notes that this does not prevent a party harmed by the forged will from suing the forgers for the act of fraud itself, provided they can prove a causal link between the fraud and damages beyond court costs.