Disgraced former Alaska federal judge could be forbidden from practicing law in the state
- James Brooks
- Jul 24
- 2 min read
The Alaska Bar Association’s board of governors is considering whether to recommend the disbarment of former federal judge Joshua Kindred and will vote on the issue next month.
Kindred, appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. District Court of Alaska, resigned in 2024 after investigators found that he had a “sexualized relationship” with a clerk who became a prosecutor and lied about it to a senior judge and investigators, and maintained a hostile workplace for law clerks.
Kindred’s Alaska law license is listed as “inactive” in the ABA database; disbarring him would mean that he is unable to practice law in the state.
A final decision on disbarment would come from the Alaska Supreme Court, which makes the final decisions on attorney discipline in the state, said Annette Blair, legal secretary of the discipline section for the bar association.
No current or former federal judge has ever been disbarred in Alaska.
According to documents made available ahead of the bar association’s August meeting, someone filed a complaint against Kindred in January, requesting a discipline hearing.
Kindred did not attend that hearing, which took place in June.
“Based on the uncontested facts, the (area hearing) committee agrees with, and adopts, the legal analysis set out in the petition as well as in the memorandum that disbarment is the appropriate sanction for Mr. Kindred’s misconduct,” the hearing report states.
In a footnote, the committee recommended that Kindred be given a path to restoring his law license after at least five years of disbarment.
“We enter our decision not with any joy. It is our collective hope Mr. Kindred can recover emotionally, financially and physically notwithstanding the hardships Mr. Kindred confronts,” a footnote states.
The bar association’s board of governors is scheduled to meet Aug. 21 by Zoom, with the vote on action against Kindred expected in the afternoon.
If the board approves disbarment, that recommendation will be sent to the Alaska Supreme Court for final action, to be taken at an as-yet-unscheduled date.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
