No Suspension For Failure To Disclose Juvenile Arrest

An attorney admitted to practice in 2006 was publicly censured by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department for a material omission on her application for bar admission.

The Special referee found that

On or about June 28, 2006, the respondent falsely answered “No” to Question 12 on her application for admission to the New York Bar, which reads:

Have you ever, either as an adult or juvenile, been cited, arrested, taken into custody, charged with, indicted, convicted or tried for, or pleaded guilty to, the commission of any felony or misdemeanor or the violation of any law, except minor parking violations, or been the subject of any juvenile delinquency or youthful offender proceeding?

 At the time, the respondent knew that on August 20, 1993, she had been arrested in New York, New York, and charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

The court

In determining an appropriate measure of discipline to impose, this Court has considered the Special Referee’s finding of genuine remorse, and the high regard in which the respondent is held by her peers, as well as her employer, the Honorable Jeanette Ruiz, Supervising Judge of the Family Court, Kings County, who testified on the respondent’s behalf. The Court also has considered, inter alia, the affirmative steps that the respondent took to rectify her conduct, including, but not limited to, having the charges dismissed and the record sealed, and her otherwise unblemished disciplinary history. Nonetheless, the Court notes that “candor and the voluntary disclosure of negative information by an applicant are the cornerstones upon which is built the character and fitness investigation of an applicant for admission to the New York State bar” 

The attorney had sought a private reprimand.

No indication from the opinion how this came to light. (Mike Frisch)