St. Croix attorney Lee Rohn has stirred up a chorus of criticism and complaints about her professional practices both inside and outside the courtroom.

Her most vocal critics have been opposing parties or counsel in lawsuits she has filed. They have alleged a wide spectrum of professional conduct violations.

Rohn against ICC

Innovative Communication Corp. attorneys estimate that Rohn has filed more than 25 lawsuits against the company and its subsidiaries.

They said she has sued the company so frequently that they could not come up with a precise number without conducting extensive research.

ICC owns the Virgin Islands' local telephone company, The Daily News and numerous other companies throughout the territory and the Caribbean region. The Daily News is named in a number of lawsuits Rohn has filed.

In a complaint sent to the V.I. Bar Association's Professional Ethics and Grievance Committee accusing Rohn of numerous unethical practices, ICC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Prosser wrote that he has grown accustomed to Rohn's practices.

"In some cases with us, she coerced her clients to sign documents that were knowingly false, she ignored judge's orders on limits of discovery inquiry during depositions; and has otherwise engaged in public attacks and vitriolic," Prosser wrote. "To date, I and my businesses have been subjected to intolerable forms of abusive conduct, often masquerading as professional advocacy. I find it hard to believe that the legal profession can condone unethical misconduct."

Prosser's letter was sent to the Bar's disciplinary committee after Rohn released the confidential material from one of her clients to another client, Sen. Adlah Donastorg Jr.

"It would be an understatement to characterize the latest episode as outrageous," Prosser wrote. "I believe if ever there were a set of circumstances that warrant disbarment of a lawyer, this is it."

The V.I. Bar Association never has disciplined Rohn, according to the president, Amos Carty Jr.

Rohn against Judge Moore

On Sept. 3, 2002, Rohn wrote a letter to a local news Web site blasting District Judge Thomas Moore.

The letter, which was a response to an editorial on the site, accused Moore of inappropriate behavior on the bench.

Rohn later filed motions to force Moore to recuse himself from her cases.

Moore stepped aside from some cases because initially he was stung by the letter.

A year later, after yet another recusal motion from Rohn, Moore ruled that he would preside over a criminal case she was handling and, in his written ruling on that motion, he blasted back.

"I believe attorney Rohn's personal attack on one of the two sitting judges in this jurisdiction was nothing more than a calculated litigation tactic that would be labeled 'judge shopping' in most places."

The Virgin Islands has two federal judges, Moore and Chief District Judge Raymond Finch on St. Croix. The territory also has two federal magistrates, Geoffrey Barnard on St. Thomas and, at the time, Jeffrey Resnick on St. Croix.

In another case, Rohn sought to compel testimony from all the federal judges in the territory.

"Nothing Lee Rohn does surprises me anymore, although subpoenaing all the federal judges in the jurisdiction is a high point of ingenuity and creativity in attempting to manipulate the system," Moore wrote.

"I do not believe, however, that an attorney should be allowed to use her calculated personal attack on a sitting judge as a technique to prevent that judge from presiding over any of her cases, especially in a small district with only two judges."

In 1999, Moore disciplined Rohn for using profanity - including a word for sexual intercourse - during judicial proceedings and insulting other lawyers, witnesses and court employees.

Moore, in a court order, sanctioned Rohn for repeated uses of profanity and "uncivil conduct toward fellow attorneys and expert witnesses."

Moore said Rohn's uses of profanity included instances in both Territorial and District courts, but he limited his findings to District Court cases.

Moore did not return a Daily News call requesting comment for this story.