PayPal Debits Draw Third New Jersey Censure

The New Jersey Supreme Court gave an attorney his third censure, following the recommendation of the Disciplinary Review Board for trust account violations that came to light after an overdraft notification.

The attorney had linked PayPal to his personal account but

Respondent established the PayPal account so that all debits (presumably of a personal nature) were to be paid from his personal account. However, because that account was not a “verified” account, PayPal withdrew funds from the trust account in the [enumerated] instances…

Which led to an invasion of client funds.

The DRB on sanction

We also considered aggravating and mitigating factors. In aggravation, respondent twice before has been censured — once in 2013 and again in 2015, albeit for dissimilar misconduct. In mitigation, he cooperated with ethics authorities, and admitted  to his misconduct, thereby saving disciplinary resources .

Although we were troubled that respondent has been the subject of two prior censures, we declined to impose a more severe sanction, because the misconduct here was relatively minor and took place over a very brief period of time. Thus, we determine that a censure adequately addresses the totality of respondent’s misconduct.

There are places where invading trust funds is considered more than “relatively minor” misconduct.

Member Gallipoli (who often dissents when the DRB displays its signature leniency) would impose a three-month suspension. (Mike Frisch)