Endangered Triplets
New York is one of the few (and perhaps the only) places where a single felony conviction will inevitably lead to disbarment.
The Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department imposed that obligatory sanction as a result of an attorney’s plea to an October 2014 DUI but left the door somewhat ajar for her return
Tendler was automatically disbarred and ceased to be an attorney by operation of law in October 2014 when she entered her guilty plea to a felony, which, for attorney discipline purposes, served as the equivalent of a conviction. Consequently, “[the Committee’s] motion to strike [Tendler’s] name from the [roll] of attorneys [is] a formality which merely confirms [Tendler’s] disbarred status” The terms of Tendler’s underlying plea agreement, meanwhile, do not mandate a different result. While an attorney’s disbarment upon a plea of guilty to a felony is automatic, the fact that her plea agreement contemplates the subsequent withdrawal of her felony guilty plea upon successful completion of a period of interim probation, leaving only a plea to a misdemeanor offense, would not serve to automatically restore her to the bar – to attain said relief, she must make a motion for reinstatement. (citations omitted)
Syracuse.com reported on the incident
Madrid Town Justice Anya A. Tendler, charged earlier this month with driving drunk with her 5-year-old triplets in the car, has resigned.
Tendler submitted her immediate resignation Monday,according to WWNY in Watertown.
The 43-year-old Tendler has been suspended since August 7, one day after she was charged with drunkenly crashing into another car on state Route 11 and leading police on a short chase in Canton.
Around 6 p.m. on August 6, Tendler struck the back of a 1995 Chrysler New Yorker, driven by Thomas F. Donals, 47, of Canton, state police said. She continued east on Route 11 toward Potsdam until she stopped and was taken into custody, police said. No one was injured.
Because the three young children were in the car at the time, Tendler was charged with three counts of felony aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law,which makes a DWI charge with a passenger under age 16 a felony.
(Mike Frisch)