Lawyer Who Used Hacked Email Faces Sanctions

The Missouri Supreme Court will consider the case of a 70-year-old part-time prosecutor, Joel Eisenstein, whose client in a divorce case hacked his ex’s email and obtained opposing counsel’s direct examination questions. Eisenstein allegedly used those examination questions, as well as a payroll document his client also acquired, without disclosing that he had the information. Opposing counsel learned Eisenstein had the documents when they were included in a stack of exhibits. When confronted about the documents, Eisenstein sent an email to opposing counsel that said, “Be careful what you say. I’m not someone you really want to make a lifetime enemy of, even though you are off to a pretty good start.” Alan Mandel, Eisenstein’s lawyer, says the case amounts to an “unfortunate mischaracterization of the facts.”