Minneapolis, St. Paul- [City Pages] Earlier this year, Randall Tigue, our fair state's foremost defender of pornography and strip clubs, left town. The First Amendment attorney, who rose to prominence defending smut king Ferris Alexander in the '80s, had taken an in-house job providing legal counsel to a Virginia-based strip-club chain.
But leaving Minnesota behind proved more difficult than expected. An investigation of Tigue's handling of client funds by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility ultimately prevented him from applying to the Virginia Bar Association.
Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court placed Tigue on probation for two years and fined him $900. The investigation concluded that the attorney's trust account, set up to safeguard client funds, repeatedly ran a shortfall from 2004 to 2007 and that Tigue failed to maintain adequate financial records.
"I would've preferred a private reprimand since I've gone 33 years without any disciplinary action," says Tigue, who has been back in town since July and continues to represent adult businesses. "They made no claim that I stole any money from any clients. It was a matter of lousy bookkeeping, which I will correct." —Paul Demko
