Crime And Consequences

The automatic disbarment provision for felony convictions was applied to an attorney who had been indefinitely suspended pending further action in New Jersey and is now deemed disbarred by the New York Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department

The crime

Respondent was admitted to practice by this Court in 1996, following his 1994 admission in New Jersey, where he most recently resided and maintained a law firm. In October 2021, respondent pleaded guilty in New Jersey to the crime of tampering with public records or information in the third degree (see NJ Stat Ann § 2C:28-7 [a] [2]).1 Those charges stemmed from respondent’s involvement in a corruption scheme.

The consequence

We recently considered this precise issue in the context of respondent’s law partner’s involvement in this same corruption scheme (see Matter of Valandingham, 207 AD3d 989, 989-990 [3d Dept 2022]). Therefore, under the facts presented herein, we conclude that respondent’s conviction for the New Jersey crime of tampering with public records or information in the third degree (see NJ Stat Ann § 2C:28-7 [a] [2])2 is specifically analogous to the New York class D felony of tampering with public records  in the first degree (see Penal Law § 175.25),3 so as to warrant his automatic disbarment in this state pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90 (4) (b) (see Matter of Young, 232 AD3d 1109, 1111 [3d Dept 2024]; Matter of Nazor, 228 AD3d 1058, 1059-1060 [3d Dept 2024]). Accordingly, we grant AGC’s motion to strike respondent’s name from the roll of attorneys nunc pro tunc to October 25, 2021 (see Matter of Valandingham, 207 AD3d at 990; Matter of Hand, 164 AD3d at 1009).

(Mike Frisch)