Conviction Results In Automatic Disbarment
A criminal conviction drew automatic disbarment of a former Bryan Cave partner by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department
On April 4, 2024, respondent pleaded guilty in Rockland County Supreme Court to the class E New York felony of attempted dissemination of indecent materials to minors in the first degree, a violation of Penal Law §§ 110.00 and 235.22. On July 30, 2024, respondent was sentenced to a probationary term of five years, ordered to pay a $300 surcharge, a $25 crime victim’s assistance fee, a $50 DNA databank fee, a $50 sex offender registration fee, and a $1,000 supplementary fee. During his plea allocution, respondent admitted that between May 22, 2023, and May 31, 2023, he used a messaging application on the internet to communicate with an individual whom he believed to be 14 years of age, but was actually an undercover investigator, with the intent to engage in sexual conduct.
The court
Respondent’s New York felony conviction is a proper predicate for automatic disbarment pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(4)(b) and (e) (see Matter of Kossoff, 204 AD3d 167 [1st Dept 2022]; Matter of Hanlon, 180 AD3d 51 [1st Dept 2019]). As respondent was convicted of a New York felony, we agree that respondent was disbarred by operation of law as of April 4, 2024, the date of his conviction (see Matter of Cohen, 227 AD3d 18 [1st Dept 2024]; Matter of Solny, 213 AD3d 24 [1st Dept 2023]). “[T]he statutory language of Judiciary Law § 90(4)(a) clearly provides that automatic disbarment is self-executing and occurs at the time of conviction of a felony” (Matter of Reich, 206 AD3d 22, 24 [1st Dept 2022]).
ABA Journal had reported on the case
A partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is on indefinite leave after his arrest on a charge of attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor in the first degree.
The partner, Daniel Waxman, 55, is accused of exchanging sexual text messages with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He was actually sexting an undercover investigator in an undercover probe by the Rockland County, New York, district attorney’s office, according to a June 1 press release.
“The defendant’s texts to the undercover investigator became increasingly more sexual, culminating in the defendant arranging to meet the minor to engage in sexual conduct,” the press release alleges.
Waxman was arrested with the help of the Ramapo Police Department in New York when he arrived at a Rockland County location, allegedly to meet the supposed girl.
(Mike Frisch)