It really does not get any better than this, in the legal malpractice world. Client asks "Does the Judge dislike me?" Attorney answers "No, the judge is fair." In this story, however, it is all reversed. From Thomson Reuters, "Judge Steps Aside in Case of Alleged Car vandal"
"NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) – A Brooklyn judge has recused himself from hearing a legal malpractice case after the plaintiff was arrested for tampering with the judge’s car.
Justice Arthur Schack ruled Friday that he would step aside from the case brought by Alex Breytman against Donald Schechter, an attorney who had represented Breytman in an earlier lawsuit.
Schack said he was recusing himself because Breytman was arrested on Jan. 19 for allegedly committing numerous counts of felony criminal mischief against the motor vehicles of Schack and other colleagues from Kings County Supreme Court.
"To avoid the appearance of any impropriety on my part, I must recuse myself from this action, even though I know I would be as fair and impartial as the individual assignment judge in deciding the motion before the court," Schack wrote.
Schack dismissed Breytman’s case against his former lawyer in February 2011 and denied Breytman’s subsequent motion to reargue, deeming it "frivolous." On Dec. 2, Breytman filed a new motion for relief from the court, which Schack described as "barely comprehensible stream-of-consciousness ranting."
Oral argument on the motion was scheduled for Feb. 24. But on Jan. 19, Breytman was arrested for the car incident. Schack signed a supporting deposition that Brooklyn prosecutors presented to the grand jury in the car case."