A Bad Influence? Is Kyle Rittenhouse in good hands with John Pierce?
“It’s a goddamn free for all with a narcissistic sociopath at the helm.” ~ Ex-Pierce Bainbridge partner referring to John Pierce in Fall 2018.
In a statement published on a fundraising site for her son Kyle Rittenhouse, Wendy “Mamma Bear” Rittenhouse characterizes attorney John Pierce as a “source of strength and wisdom.” This is at odds with two former partners of Pierce who referred to the University of Notre Dame graduate as a “narcissistic sociopath” and a “fu*king lunatic.” The latter remarks perhaps support opinions that the massively indebted attorney may not be acting in the best interests of his client. While Rittenhouse’s mother has given Pierce a vote of confidence, a closer look at the individual the Daily Mail characterized as “managing to cling” to Rittenhouse perhaps supports skepticism.
Given the nature of Pierce’s issues, many covered in detail in the Daily Mail, the 18-year old Rittenhouse at “Pudgie’s Pub” with a beer is particularly noteworthy. (We first heard of the pub event through Deneen Smith of Kenosha News.)
Furthermore, skepticism about Pierce not only flows from the issues set forth below, but also the failure which has immersed him — captured in this compelling 2-minute video — and because Pierce has already not lived up to his word after seemingly hearse-chasing the Rittenhouse case.
Let’s take a closer look.
- Pierce’s ex-wife says he has a “history of abusing alcohol and drugs, including cocaine.”
- According to his ex-wife’s sworn statement, Pierce did not see his children for at least approximately four months “due to his failure to comply with drug and alcohol testing.” The provisions called for Pierce to test for alcohol four times daily.
- While Pierce appears to have had enough cash for drugs and booze, he failed to make timely child support payments. Per the publicly filed e-mail below, his former spouse even threatened to contact Child Support Services.
- Pierce lost his job at the K&L Gates law firm after just a few months for physically assaulting a co-worker while perhaps under the influence.
- In alignment with this seeming violent streak, Pierce’s former spouse declared under oath that she was warned that he expressed an intense desire to kill her when Pierce was in a UCLA Psychiatric facility. Pierce, whose honesty has been questioned by several sources, denies that he expressed an intense desire to kill the mother of his three children.
- Also interesting is what perhaps may be viewed as a concession by Pierce that his general behavior is juvenile. An e-mail the attorney wrote to his ex-spouse in 2016 says: “I just never grew up.”
In addition to the substance abuse and violence, Pierce’s finances are a mess. A law firm he founded Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP imploded under severe financial duress. The other individuals in the firm’s name: James D. Bainbridge (Bainbridge Law APC, Carolynn K. Beck (Goldstein & McClintock), Max Price (Hecht Partners) and David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners) all moved on prior to Rittenhouse hiring Pierce Bainbridge P.C.
Similar to concerns that Pierce may be a bad influence on Rittenhouse, we asked several month ago if operations, at the firm Rudy Giuliani hired for issues with Ukraine, may have been tainted by Pierce’s temperament.
John Pierce’s issues are severe and they are wide ranging. The attorney has let his family down, attorneys down, former clients down, lenders down, legal service providers down, the list goes on. Indeed, the negative collateral impacts from Pierce’s poor behavior are substantial; they’ve spread, and continue to spread, perhaps like a communicable disease.
Given this background, is John Pierce good for Kyle Rittenhouse, or is John Pierce a Bad Influence?
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Addendum. Yet another group of individuals perhaps may suffer negative consequences from Pierce’s behavior. A John Pierce filing in the Boeing 737 Max RICO Class Action last week raises eyebrows. Will this be good or bad for the plaintiffs pursuing their rights in that litigation? What about the lawyers who have been diligently working the case for eighteen months?
