JD Journal » suspension

Yoss LLP To Dissolve At Month’s End

todd — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:06:20 +0000

The largest minority-owned law firm in the United States will dissolve at the end of the month.

According to an e-mail, from managing partner George Yoss, “We are sure you are aware, these have been extremely difficult times for the firm. After meeting with the bank and evaluating the firm’s status and financial position, the decision was made to wind down its operation.”

The announcement comes not long after a former founder and name partner Henry Adorno had his law license suspended due to allegations that he had mishandled a settlement.

After Adorno’s suspension, the firm dropped his name from their title, but the firm has been hit with partner departures and layoffs ever since. Since then, they’ve lost nearly 75 lawyers.

Lemon Lawyers Battling Further Disciplinary Action

Erik Even — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:45:56 +0000

From The Legal Intelligencer:

Craig T. Kimmel and Robert M. Silverman, founders of one of the largest lemon law practices in the northeastern United States, continue to try to stave off disciplinary action in Pennsylvania and New York following their Sept. 2 suspension in Maryland.

The pair, founding partners of 12-lawyer Kimmel & Silverman, was suspended indefinitely by the Maryland Court of Appeals for failing to adequately supervise a new satellite office they started in Maryland as well as failing to properly communicate with a client of the firm after the sole lawyer in that office abruptly resigned.

Apparently Kimmel and Silverman hired a single individual to run a Maryland office. That lawyer, Robin Katz, could not keep up with the workload, but kept this fact from her supervisors, even forging documents. One day, she just quit.

She failed to enter deadlines in 47 cases being handled by the law firm Piper Rudnick, now DLA Piper. That led to dismissals with prejudice in all 47 cases.

The firm, founded in 1991, prosecutes motor vehicle warranty and lemon law civil claims.

Via TLI.

Lawyer Forgot She Was Suspended, Argued Before CA Supreme Court

Erik Even — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:37:14 +0000

The California Supreme Court has removed Cynthia Thomas from the death penalty case of Charles Moore, and referred her to the State Bar for disciplinary proceedings. The court says Thomas argued Moore’s case before the Court on December 2nd while ineligible to practice law.

Thomas says she “failed to realize” she hadn’t been fully reinstated to the Bar, after being suspended in 2007 for not advising a client of his legal options in a separate criminal case. Although she had fulfilled the one-month suspension in that case, she hadn’t passed the State Bar’s ethics examination, which is a requirement for permanent reinstatement.

A graduate of the UC Davis School of Law, Thomas told the Supreme Court she had failed the ethics exam in August. She took the test again in November, but was not notified she had failed again until December 6th, four days after the oral argument.

“I do not believe that my suspension at the time of oral argument,” she said, “resulted in any actual compromise in the quality of representation afforded Mr. Moore.”

The high court disagreed, and has terminated Thomas’ representation.

Moore was sentenced to death on April 11, 1984, for the brutal stabbing deaths of Robert and Marie Crumb in their Long Beach apartment in 1977.

Pedophile Lawyer Suspended for 3 Years

Erik Even — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:24:56 +0000

An associate who was fired from Kirkland & Ellis in 2004, after admitting he attempted to arrange a meeting “to engage in an oral sexual act” with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, has been suspended from practicing law in New York for three years.

In a rare 3-2 decision, a five-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division, 1st Department, agreed that Steven J. Lever “brought shame to himself and to this State’s Bar” by using the Internet “to prey on minors for purposes of sexual gratification.” They ruled the conduct required “a significant sanction.”

But without a clear New York precedent, the judges could not agree on the appropriate punishment.

The majority, looking at similar cases from other states, cited the “substantial and credible mitigation evidence” in confirming a hearing panel’s recommended three-year suspension.

From the beginning, respondent has admitted responsibility for his actions and has taken ‘uncommon’ efforts to rehabilitate himself. After his arrest, he voluntarily entered sex offender treatment and all evidence in the record supports the therapist’s opinions that such therapy appears to be working and that the likelihood of respondent repeating the misconduct was ‘low.’

In a vehement dissent, two justices argued for disbarment:

Because I believe that a convicted and registered sex offender has forfeited the privilege of admission to the bar and the elevated status of the officer of the court, I must respectfully take the unusual step in a disciplinary proceeding and dissent. I believe that any penalty short of disbarment would not comport with the standards to which a member of the bar should adhere. I do not believe that we can reconcile the status of registered sex offender with that of a member of the bar in good standing.

Lever, who was a patents & intellectual property associate at Kirkland & Ellis, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999 and was admitted to the New York bar in 2000.

In July 2004, using his law firm computer, Lever logged onto a chat room for “older men and younger women.” He consequently exchanged sexual emails and phone calls with a “13-year-old female” who turned out to be a police officer. He attempted to meet the “girl” in October 2004.

In November 2005, Lever pleaded guilty to the single misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to six years’ probation and certified as a level-one sexual offender.

Via The New York Law Journal.

New York to Recover Exhorbitant Fees From Scrooge Attorney

Erik Even — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:51:09 +0000

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is to reopen 170 estates of deceased people, in order to reimburse heirs who were gouged by a greedy Brooklyn lawyer Louis Rosenthal.

Rosenthal piled up millions of dollars in fees with the approval of his former law school pal, disgraced ex-Surrogate Court Judge Michael Feinberg.

On December 4th, the state Appellate Division disbarred Feinberg, and suspended Rosenthal from practicing law for two years.

From 1992 to 2002, Judge Feinberg awarded Rosenthal nearly $9 million in fees. He regularly awarded his buddy 8% of the estates’ assets, while lawyers in other boroughs typically received 6% or less.

Instead of filing the required affidavits, Rosenthal submitted fee requests on Post-it notes.