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Doug Brocker was privately retained by the North Carolina State Bar as special prosecutor in the disciplinary case against Michael B. Nifong.  Mr. Nifong is the former Durham County District Attorney who pursued the Duke Lacrosse case. Mr. Nifong was disbarred after a nationally-televised disciplinary trial. Mr. Brocker’s closing argument was covered live on CNN, Court TV and others. Mr. Nifong was found to have made numerous improper pretrial statements, withheld DNA evidence, and made repeated misrepresentations and false statements to the Court and others.  To read the disbarment order in the Nifong case, click here.

Doug and Deanna Brocker have published a three-part series of articles relating to their involvement in the Nifong matter entitled "Lessons from the Duke Lacrosse case.” The first, “Pretrial Publicity,” focused on Rule 3.6 and Mr. Nifong's repeated improper extrajudicial statements. The second, "A New Standard for Ethical Discovery Practices?” discussed the new ethics rules concerning discovery and Mr. Nifong's withholding of exculpatory evidence. The third, "The Truth Set Them Free," addressed Mr. Nifong's various misrepresentations and false statements. These three articles were published in the September, October and November 2007 editions of the Wake County Bar Flyer.

Doug also has been the headline speaker for a series of seminars around the state sponsored by Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, the primary legal malpractice insurance carrier in North Carolina. The topic for these seminars has been Lessons from the Duke Lacrosse case and State Bar v. Nifong. From September through December 2007, Doug presented these seminars to large audiences of attorneys and others in Research Triangle Park, Greenville, Asheville, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Doug also presented or participated in panel discussions for the following seminars in 2007:

• “Firm Dissolution and Ethical Breakups” for the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers on March 23, 2007 in Greensboro, NC
• “Ethics Every Attorney Can Use” for the North Carolina Bar Association Practical Skills Seminar: the Lawyers Toolbox on September 19, 2007 in Cary, NC
• "Professionalism and Ethics for Practitioners" for the Wake County Bar Association on October 2, 2007 in Raleigh, NC
• “The Ethical Fallout from State Bar v. Nifong” for the Mecklenburg County and 26th Judicial District Bars on November 9, 2007 in Charlotte, NC
• “Ramifications from Duke Lacrosse and Nifong cases” for the National Association of Bar Executives, Governmental Relations Section on November 16, 2007 in Raleigh, NC

From January through March 2008, Doug presented seminars for Lawyers Mutual in Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, and Wilmington, NC.

In 2008, Doug also presented the following additional seminars:

• “Special Ethical Issues in High-Profile Cases,” Joint Program of the NCBA Constitutional Rights & Criminal Justice Sections, February 2008, Cary, NC
  
• The Ethics of Pretrial Publicity,” 15-B Judicial District Bar, February 2008, Chapel Hill, NC