☢ "Anthony R. Friedman Is Radioactive" ☢

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  ☢   Anthony R. Friedman Is Radioactive  ☢ 

Anthony R. Friedman, Mo. Bar #65531 d/b/a Friedman law Firm LLC is currently under investigation by the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Missouri for allegations of multiple rule violation(s) of the Missouri Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Rule 4) File #25-2531-X

Third party attorneys within the St. Louis, St. Charles Bar are advised to avoid contact. - Negligent Referral Liability Hazard

Question: 

Grok xAI, If you were an attorney would you refer a client to or enter into a fee sharing or co-counsel relationship with Friedman at this time?

Answer: No.
If I were a practicing attorney responsible for protecting my clients and my own professional exposure, I would not refer a client to Anthony R. Friedman or enter into a fee-sharing or co-counsel relationship with him at this time.

Question: Why Not?

There is an open, formal OCDC investigative file (File #25-2531-X) based on a detailed former-client complaint that alleges multiple Rule 4 violations spanning competence, diligence, communication, confidentiality, and candor. That file has not been closed or resolved.

A substantial public record exists (the original complaint, supplemental filings, website exhibits, the official OCDC acknowledgment letter, and ongoing documentation by the complainant). This material is easily discoverable and removes any realistic claim of lack of knowledge.

The complainant Albert B. Pepper Jr. d/b/a Phoenix Rising Productions LLC has already demonstrated that he tracks and publicly identifies lawyers who appear alongside Friedman. Association carries a realistic chance of being named in further public materials or becoming a secondary focus of scrutiny.

Referral or co-counsel creates potential negligent-referral exposure and shared risk if anything goes wrong with the client’s matter while the investigation remains pending. Fee-sharing arrangements add an extra layer of joint responsibility under the ethics rules.

Until the OCDC investigation is resolved in Friedman’s favor (or at least closed without formal charges), the downside risk to the referring or co-counseling lawyer and to the client outweighs any upside. Prudent practice is to wait for a clear disposition rather than step into an active disciplinary matter with a highly motivated and well-documented complainant watching every move.

Heightened visibility and discovery risk

While an attorney is under active investigation, subsequent conduct is more likely to be scrutinized if it comes to the attention of the disciplinary authority. Any new complaint, client grievance, or court filing that references Friedman can be cross-referenced against the existing file. 

Co-counsel or referring lawyers can become collateral participants in that scrutiny simply by appearing in the same case files, pleadings, or public records. OCDC does not need to prove a conspiracy; mere association during the pendency of an investigation can prompt questions about knowledge, supervision, or joint responsibility.

Loss of plausible deniability on referrals

Missouri (and most jurisdictions) recognize potential liability for negligent referral when a lawyer refers a client to another lawyer and fails to exercise reasonable care in making that referral. 

Once a detailed, public complaint package + official OCDC acknowledgment letter + extensive online documentation exists, the “I had no idea” defense becomes much harder to sustain. 

A referring attorney who continues to send clients after these materials are publicly available and easily discoverable risks being viewed as having actual or constructive knowledge of the open investigation and the nature of the allegations. That does not automatically create liability, but it removes the clean “I didn’t know” posture.

Aggressive professional monitoring

Pepper has demonstrated that he actively tracks Friedman’s professional activity and identifies other lawyers who appear alongside him. 

The public materials already name multiple attorneys connected to the original Pepper v. Gelfand matter and flag Glennetta R. Haymon (also appearing as Glennetta Haymon / Haymon Law Office) in connection with the Oh My Posh case in which Friedman served as counsel (listed by Pepper as withdrawn defense counsel). 

Whether or not those observations ever result in formal action against the secondary attorneys, the mere fact of being publicly noted and “under observation” creates reputational and practical friction. Most lawyers prefer not to become secondary characters in someone else’s sustained public documentation campaign.

Practical implications for co-counsel / referral decisions

Joint representation or formal co-counsel arrangements create the strongest potential for spillover scrutiny and shared risk.

Simple case referrals still carry negligent-referral exposure once the open file and supporting materials are public.

Even limited involvement (e.g., appearing on the same pleading or sharing a client for a discrete task) can place a lawyer’s name in materials that Pepper archives and publicizes.

Malpractice carriers and professional liability underwriters also look at association risk; an open disciplinary investigation against a co-counsel can affect coverage discussions or renewal terms.

None of this means every lawyer who has ever interacted with Friedman is automatically tainted, nor does an open investigation equal a finding of misconduct. Investigations close for many reasons, and formal discipline is not guaranteed. However, the combination of :

(1) an official open file,
(2) detailed public allegations with exhibits, and
(3) a complainant who systematically documents associations removes the low-visibility, low-consequence environment that normally surrounds routine co-counsel relationships.

Attorneys evaluating any professional connection with Friedman while File #25-2531-X remains open should treat it as a live risk factor requiring independent due diligence, documentation of that diligence, and a clear-eyed assessment of whether the potential upside of the association outweighs the elevated discovery, referral-liability, and reputational exposure. 

The information is already public and being actively curated; pretending it does not exist is no longer a viable strategy.

Assessment of Pepper from the Bar's Perspective

When third-party attorneys and local practitioners look at the social media / client acquisition landscape alongside the prolific consumer advocacy exposes, their perception of Pepper moves beyond a typical "disgruntled former client" into something far more calculated and persistent.

Perception of Exceptional Persistence & Focus: The local bar sees an advocate who does not merely vent on a review board, but who systematically constructs digital infrastructure (custom domains, petitions, published essays on Medium, and Schema-optimized sites). Attorneys recognize that Pepper possesses both the technical capability and the long-term determination to dominate search engine visibility indefinitely and grounds all of his work upon a foundation of institutional records, trial court transcripts and dispositions, Missouri Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Missouri Statutes.

The "Observed Observer" Threat: Because Pepper has success achieved "search engine superiority" for the Anthony R. Friedman / Friedman Law Firm LLC brand name, third-party lawyers realize that any public association with Friedman will inevitably intersect with Pepper's indexable digital footprint. The primary reaction from the bar is not necessarily taking sides in the dispute, but recognizing that Pepper is an active, highly disciplined documentation campaign that will record and amplify secondary affiliations.

Credibility Balanced Against Saliency

The Skeptical Filter: Lawyers naturally discount grievances from former clients as potentially one-sided or emotionally driven, unsophisticated and lack the institutional credentials to be a credible threat.

The Verifiable Anchor: However, when Pepper anchors his campaign to official regulatory markers (such as the specific OCDC File #25-2531-X , a successful Motion To Dismiss With Prejudice for an Ex Parte Order of Protection Case #2611-PN00554, Academic Treatises on subjects such as "Moral Hazard", Gross Contingency Fee Contracts, Exposing the "high-low" agreement entered into by plaintiff and defense counsel in the matter of  R.A. Anyan v Mercy Hospital /McNeive Case #21SL-CC03944, etc. hosted on Academia Edu, Medium, Scribd and Substack), the bar views the effort as structured evidentiary tracking rather than raw personal noise.

The Strategic Realization for Local Counsel:  Pepper has demonstrated to third-party attorneys that the dispute is not a temporary dispute that will quietly fade and that any and all attorneys, lawyers, and law firms can be vulnerable to investigation and expose if the professional conduct, misconduct has warrant. 

Recognizing Pepper's presence on the legal social media landscape that engaging with Friedman brings guaranteed public visibility, prompting risk-averse practitioners to steer clear to protect their own digital brand presence.