LINCOLN — Jeremy Jorgenson, a former attorney for convicted murderer Anthony Garcia, has been disbarred by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
The court ruled Friday that Jorgenson continued to represent at least three clients after he had been suspended from practicing law and failed to inform the clients of his suspension and help them find a new attorney.
He also continued to represent himself as a lawyer in emails, the court said, and failed to cooperate with court investigators.
In one instance, he notified a client via text message that he was suspended and couldn’t serve as his lawyer on the morning that the client was to be sentenced for a crime in Merrick County.
Since becoming an attorney in 2008, Jorgenson, 44, has been disciplined by the court on three previous occasions: in 2012 for a problem related to contingent fees, in 2017 for failing to keep up with continuing education requirements and in 2018 for skipping oral arguments in a federal case.
Jorgenson, according to the Supreme Court’s ruling, said his life fell into “disarray” both personally and professionally after he was retained to help defend Garcia, a former Creighton University medical student.
Garcia, who was also represented by a group of Chicago attorneys, was eventually convicted of killing four people linked to the university and sentenced to death.
Jorgenson said that during the case, his wife moved to another state with their children, sparking a custody battle, and that he was severely depressed and drinking “a lot,” which led to his poor conduct with clients.
But Jorgenson said he had quit drinking a year ago, after a February 2018 incident in which he fractured his stepson’s arm. He said he started attending AA meetings “you know, hit and miss a little bit.”
“I think it’s just sort of my personality,” he testified during a disciplinary hearing. “It’s hard. AA is tough for me because I just can decide to do or not do something.”
Jorgenson was charged with two felonies — intentional child abuse and tampering with a witness — in the incident involving his stepson. Prosecutors said that after the incident, he drove past the nearest hospital because he, his wife and the boy had not yet concocted a cover-up story.
Jorgenson agreed to plead no contest in exchange for having the charges reduced to four misdemeanors.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County District Court.
