New York Attorney Discipline Committee Keeping Busy

In a recent article, The New York Daily News reports on the work of the attorney Disciplinary Commitee of one Department of the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court.

Thomas Cahill, chief counsel for the Disciplinary Committee of the Division's 1st Department, which covers Manhattan and the Bronx, is interviewed for the Daily News story. His office, which polices the 76,777 lawyers in Manhattan and the Bronx, has a staff that includes 20 full-time attorneys, many of whom are former prosecutors, investigators, an accountant and paralegals. It handles about 3,500 matters a year in a complex process that begins with screening of complaints.

Most ripoffs by attorneys involve theft from escrow accounts and trusts and estates or billing for work that wasn't done, according to an analysis by The Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York. Among the examples of attorney misconduct cited in the article include incidents where:

• an attorney deposited over $470,000 from the proceeds of a home sale in Peekskill, New York into his business checking account and gave the homeowner a rubber check for the proceeds of the home sale,
• the same attorney, who failed to remit to his clients the $354,900 proceeds from the sale of an Italian restaurant (he pocketed $319,000; the balance is reportedly still being traced),
• an attorney who pleaded guilty to participating in a $750,000 mortgage scam,
• an attorney who reportedly represented approximately 200 clients buying real estate who had her clients buy title services at a company next door that she also owned, which the New York State Appellate Court judges called "an impermissible conflict of interest."

The article also cites the variety of excuses that the rogue attorneys offer up when they get nailed. For more, see Rotten lawyers face raft of raps in ripoffs.

For information on filing attorney grievances and obtaining relief from dishonest attorney conduct in New York State, see:

• A Guide To Attorney Disciplinary Procedures In New York State, and
• The Lawyers’ Fund For Client Protection of the State of New York.

Go here for stories on other alleged escrow agent mishandling of funds. sneaky slick escrow agents alpha

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