Default Draws Disbarment
Disbarment has been imposed by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department based on an attorney’s failure to respond to allegations of misconduct
The petition contains seven charges of professional misconduct, alleging, inter alia, that the respondent engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice in violation of rule 8.4(d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR 1200.0) by his failure to cooperate with three Grievance Committee investigations, by his conduct in his bankruptcy proceeding in which the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York found that he engaged in an “obvious pattern of deceit,” and by failing to pay a judgment to a former client, and that the respondent engaged in undignified or discourteous conduct before a tribunal towards a judge in violation of rule 3.3(f)(2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
The notice of petition directed the respondent to file his answer to the petition within 20 days after service upon him of the petition. To date, the respondent has not filed an answer to the petition as directed, nor requested additional time in which to do so.
Law.com reported
A defendant-turned-lawyer attempting to collect on a more than $500,000 judgement against his former attorney is asking a judge to force the sale of the attorney’s house to collect his debts.
Attorney Robert J. Feldman owes ex-client Donald Glassman $519,682.08, according to a judgement filed last year in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The debt stems from a protracted legal battle Glassman began over a decade ago, with a jury ultimately finding Feldman liable for malpractice and defamation for calling Glassman a “dangerous jerk” and a “total a-hole” online.
On Friday, Glassman asked a Suffolk County Court judge to order that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office be allowed to sell Feldman’s Sayville, NY, property out from under him in order to make Glassman whole.
Feldman did not immediately respond to messages. Glassman’s lawyer, Timothy Murtha of Roach & Murtha Attorneys at Law, declined to immediately comment.
The conflict dates back to 2006, when Glassman was charged with assaulting and raping his then-wife. He was convicted but later won a new trial. He hired Feldman, then a friend, to represent him, according to court filings.
Glassman then sued Feldman for $30,000 to return his retainer agreement, arguing Feldman never should have agreed to become his attorney in the first place because he was actually a material witness to the first trial.
Glassman became a lawyer following his acquittal.
(Mike Frisch)