No Fee For Brooklyn Attorney, Ordered To Pay Back $400K+ In Allegedly Improper Payments Taken In Guardianship Matter Of Retired Judge

In New York City, the ABA Journal reports:

• Attorney Emani Taylor apparently was hoping to get $853,000 for three years of work as a guardian for a former New York judge. Instead, the New York lawyer got a lecture on legal ethics from Acting Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrosio and a $403,000 surcharge for improper payments she had earlier made to herself from selling real estate owned by former Civil Court Judge John Phillips, reports the New York Law Journal. The article was reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

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• [Judge] Phillips, who suffered from Alzheimer's, died in February at age 83. At one point he reportedly held real estate worth some $10 million. Taylor has been suspended from the practice of law by the Appellate Division, First Department, for, as Ambrosio puts it, "at best, withdrawing funds from the guardianship account for legal fees without court permission, or, at worst, intentionally converting guardianship funds."

For more, see No $853K Guardian Payday for N.Y. Lawyer; Also Hit With $403K Surcharge.
For a more detailed account of this story, see New York Lawyer: NY Lawyer Must Pay Back $403,000, Denied All of $853,000 Fee Request (free registration required).

• Justice Ambrosio lacerated Ms. Taylor's performance, calling her conduct "egregious" and reflecting "a fundamental lack of understanding of what her role as a guardian entailed." At one point, he called her explanation for not producing time sheets and other records a "dog ate my homework excuse."

For earlier posts on this story, see:

• Retired NY Judge Reportedly Left Homeless & Broke By Guardianship Process,
• NYC Lawyer Suspended For Alleged Mismanagement Of Retired Judge's Estate. granny-snatching