Exacerbated By COVID

A public censure has been imposed by the New York Appellate Division for the Fourth Judicial Department

In support of the joint motion, respondent conditionally admits that, while she was employed as a court attorney referee in the Fifth Judicial District during early 2020, she entered the chambers of a judge of that District, located the login credentials for the judge’s computer, and thereafter used those login credentials on five occasions to make unauthorized changes to the time card of the judge’s law clerk. Respondent additionally admits that, on numerous occasions from February through July 2020, she viewed certain email messages and electronic files on the judge’s computer without authorization from the judge. The Office of the Inspector General for the New York State Unified Court System commenced an investigation, and respondent lost her position as court attorney referee after admitting that she had engaged in the misconduct set forth in the joint motion.

Sanction

In imposing the sanction requested by the parties in the joint motion, we have considered the serious nature of respondent’s admitted misconduct, as well as the relevant mitigating factors, including her expression of remorse for the misconduct, which we find to be sincere, and her statement that the misconduct was aberrational and occurred at a time when she was experiencing mental health issues that were exacerbated by ongoing workplace difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also considered in mitigation that respondent has successfully sought mental health treatment and that she has not previously been the subject of an attorney disciplinary proceeding before this Court since she was admitted to practice law in 1988.

(Mike Frisch)