Getting Into Prison Gets Attorney Sanctioned

An attorney who stipulated to misconduct has been suspended for three years and until further order by the New York Appellate Division for the Fourth Judicial Department.

The most serious findings

the Referee found that, in 2014, respondent was retained to represent a criminal defendant in an extradition proceeding, after which the client was extradited and imprisoned in Pennsylvania. The Referee found that, on May 9, 2016, respondent contacted a Pennsylvania prison official and engaged in dishonesty and deceit to gain access to the client. The Referee found that respondent told the prison official that the client’s then current Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney had asked respondent to meet with the client to obtain a witness list, and that the Pennsylvania attorney was unable to meet personally with the client owing to a family emergency. The Referee found that, when the prison official expressed concern about a grievance complaint that had been previously filed against respondent based upon her alleged conduct during a prior visit to the prison, respondent told the prison official that the “New York State Bar Association” had cleared her of all wrongdoing in relation to the prior visit. The Referee found, however, that, on May 9, 2016, respondent was in possession of a letter from the New York grievance authorities indicating that the disciplinary investigation regarding her prior visit to the prison remained open. The Referee further found that, when the prison official continued to express reluctance to grant respondent access to the inmate, respondent falsely stated that she had filed a motion and obtained judicial permission to meet with the inmate. The Referee also found that, when the prison official subsequently contacted the client’s Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney, he advised the prison official that, prior to May 9, 2016, he had rejected respondent’s offer to serve as cocounsel in the Pennsylvania proceeding, had refused to support her application for pro hac vice admission in Pennsylvania, and had never requested that she visit the client in prison.

There were also findings of failure to communicate with clients, escrow account issues and failures to respond to the bar inquiries.

On mitigation

With respect to matters in mitigation raised by respondent during the hearing, the Referee found that, although respondent testified that she suffered from certain mental health issues during the relevant time period, she failed to produce any documentation to corroborate that testimony other than a one-page billing summary from her treatment provider that was generated approximately three days before the hearing. The Referee also noted that respondent subsequently failed to produce additional corroborating documentation on that point, despite her statement to the Referee that such additional documentation was forthcoming. Accordingly, the Referee found that respondent failed to establish that mental health issues had contributed to the alleged misconduct.

(Mike Frisch)