Andrew Shirvell's rants against a University of Michigan student leader who is openly gay could cost him his law license

Deborah Gordon, the attorney for U-M student Chris Armstrong, said Friday she has filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission against Shirvell, a Michigan assistant attorney general, on behalf of her client.

The complaint alleges Shirvell harassed and defamed Armstrong during what Gordon describes as a six-month campaign "of lies, dishonesty, heckling, hate speech and even job interference."

The commission could disbar Shirvell if it investigates.

"I could not stand by and let Mr. Shirvell continue his reckless, bullying behavior," Armstrong said in a statement.

Shirvell already is fighting a ban from the U-M campus. And he faces a Friday disciplinary hearing in the Attorney General's Office.

U-M Student Leader: Bullyin Shirvell's attorney said Friday that the uproar has been fueled by the "liberal media" and that he is shocked that Armstrong filed the complaint since it came days after the U-M student dropped a court request for a personal protection order against Shirvell

Five days ago, Chris Armstrong wanted to focus on his classes, complete his senior year and finish his work with the Michigan Student Assembly. On Friday, the University of Michigan student leader took a step deeper into the controversy surrounding the attacks on him by a Michigan assistant attorney general.

In a news release announcing the filing of a complaint with the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, Armstrong said he had to take the action against Andrew Shirvell to keep him from bullying. His attorney is asking the commission to investigate and possibly disbar Shirvell.

"We just feel very strongly ... that you can't be a licensed attorney and an officer of the court and conduct yourself this way and essentially terrorize a college student," said Deborah Gordon, Armstrong's Bloomfield Hills attorney.

Armstrong is the first openly gay president of the U-M student assembly. Shirvell has been on a voluntary leave from the Attorney General's Office in the wake of a national uproar over attacks on Armstrong primarily on his blog, which is now private.

There, he posted a picture of Armstrong with a swastika across his face, called him "Satan's representative" on the student assembly and said he was promoting a "radical homosexual.

"Both sides made a good-faith pledge. There would be no further contact, no further problems. None of it makes sense to me," said attorney Philip Thomas of Grosse Pointe Park.

Armstrong filed the complaint on the grounds Shirvell has violated the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys "by making obviously false, disgusting and utterly outlandish allegations about Armstrong's lifestyle," Gordon said.

The rule Shirvell is accused of violating says it's professional misconduct for a lawyer to "engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or violation of the criminal law."

Gordon herself filed a separate complaint against Shirvell, citing conduct rules that say a lawyer with knowledge that another lawyer is violating the rules shall inform the commission. She said she believes Shirvell is unfit to practice law.

She released a copy of her complaint, but declined to release Armstrong's complaint.

Gordon also sent a letter to Thomas in which she asked his client to retract statements he has made about Armstrong. In the letter, she says, "Mr. Shirvell is plainly out of control and has become obsessed with Mr. Armstrong."

On Friday afternoon, Thomas attended a hearing to try to overturn an order that bars Shirvell from stepping foot on the U-M campus. He expects to find out Monday whether the ban is lifted.

On Friday, he will represent his client in a disciplinary hearing at the Attorney General's Office -- the same day Shirvell returns to work after his leave began in early October.

Thomas said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the grievance commission complaint without seeing it.

But, he said, "everything that Mr. Shirvell did was protected by his First Amendment rights to free speech -- as objectionable as somebody may find it."

Gordon rejected that argument, saying: "Defamation is not protected by the First Amendment."

Contact Lori Higgins: 313-222-6651 or lhiggins@freepress.com