More Than Poor Judgment

An attorney convicted of felony concealment of securities and wire fraud was suspended for three years by New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department.

The court described the reasons for the sanction:

In determining an appropriate measure of discipline to impose, we find that the respondent has endured hardships as a result of his conviction, including difficulty maintaining his practice and obtaining new clients, financial difficulties, both as a result of the harm to his practice and the expenses incurred in his defense, and embarrassment resulting from his conviction. However, we find that, rather than demonstrating remorse, the respondent has tried to minimize his culpability, both before the sentencing Judge and the Special Referee, by describing what he did wrong as, inter alia, a “poor exercise of judgment” and a “failure to exercise due diligence.” In fact, the respondent abused his position as an attorney, affirmatively aided the commission of a felony, to wit, securities fraud, and affirmatively acted to conceal the commission of that felony. To the extent that the respondent reached out to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney’s Office, he did so with the knowledge that others were already under investigation, and that he might be next.

(Mike Frisch)