The Texts Of Disbarment

The New Jersey Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney for criminal conduct described by the Disciplinary Review Board

On March 16, 2017, respondent appeared in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas and pleaded nolo contendere to first-degree misdemeanor corruption of a minor.  Beginning on July 1, 2015, respondent engaged in sexual activity via text messages with a fourteen-year-old female (I.S.). Respondent requested I.S. to send photos of herself while she wore little clothing or a bikini, discussed topics of a sexual nature, and sent her pictures of his genitalia. Respondent was introduced to I.S. through her mother, whom he was representing in a child custody proceeding against I.S.’s father.

On June 27, 2017, respondent was sentenced to incarceration in the Lackawanna County Prison for a term of six months to twenty-three months. I.S. told the court that respondent’s sexually predatory behavior had a “huge negative impact on her life;” that respondent took advantage of her at a particularly vulnerable time, when he was supposed to be representing her mother in a legal matter; and that the repercussions of respondent’s conduct would affect her for the rest of her life.

In turn, I.S.’s mother requested that respondent serve prison time. She emphasized that respondent took advantage of the trust she had placed in him [as] her attorney and that respondent had destroyed their lives with “no ounce of remorse.”

Sanction

we remain resolute that when, as here, an attorney behaves in a matter such “as to destroy totally any vestige of confidence that the individual could ever again practice in conformity with the standards of the profession,” that attorney should be disbarred. In re Templeton, 99 N.J. 365,376 (1985). We so recommend to the Court.

(Mike Frisch)