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Gardiner Attorney Suspended For Multiple Violations, Including Sexual Harassment

The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar has taken the unusual step of suspending a Gardiner attorney for what it says are "multiple violations " of the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct, including sexual harassment and conflict of interest.

Clarence Spurling was ordered to vacate his law office and has been suspended from practicing law until further notice.

Following a hearing earlier this month, Superior Court Justice Valerie Stanfill found that Spurling engaged in unwelcome touching and made sexual advances to two of his clients, one of whom was incapacitated at the time.

"Under the facts presented by the Board, this court concludes that Attorney Spurling’s misconduct serves as an imminent threat to clients, the public and to the administration of justice," Stanfill wrote.

According to a published report, Spurling was fired from his job as a Maine probation officer in 1984 for sexually harassing female coworkers.

He ran unsuccessfully to serve as a Kennebec County probate judge in 2016.