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INTRODUCTION
When you hire a lawyer you have the right to have your legal matter
handled in a professional and ethical manner.
Unfortunately, there may be times when you feel that you have not
received the treatment you deserve. Most of the time such problems can
be settled between you and your lawyer, either by talking it over or by
dismissing the lawyer and hiring a new one. However, on occasion a
lawyer's conduct may appear so improper that you feel a complaint to a
local disciplinary authority is warranted. Most complaints are filed by
clients. However, you may file one even if you are not that lawyer's client.
I. WHERE TO SEND YOUR COMPLAINT
If you believe a lawyer has behaved in an unethical or dishonest manner,
you may file a complaint with:
Departmental Disciplinary Committee
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
First Judicial Department
61 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, New York 10006
Telephone (212) 401-0800
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 A.M.-5 P.M.
The Committee only handles complaints against lawyers whose offices
are in Manhattan or the Bronx. Similar disciplinary committees exist in the
other counties of New York State. If you call us, we will be happy to
furnish you with addresses for the other disciplinary committees in the
state.
II. WHAT IS THE DEPARTMENTAL DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE?
The Committee is composed
of lawyers and a smaller number of non-lawyers appointed by the
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Judicial Department (the "Court"). Each member is selected by the Court because of his or her
knowledge of the law and reputation for integrity and fairness. They serve
voluntarily and without pay, and the Committee has no affiliation with a
bar association. The Committee is assisted by a full-time paid staff of
about 45 which includes lawyers, investigators, paralegals and clerical
assistants. The staff screens and investigates complaints and prosecutes
those complaints that may warrant disciplinary action.
III. WHAT THE COMMITTEE DOES
The purpose of the Committee is to protect the public and the legal profession by ensuring that lawyers adhere to the ethical standards set
forth in the Rules of Professional Conduct (the "Rules"). The
Committee protects the public by reviewing and investigating complaints
against lawyers and by recommending sanctions against those who are
proven to have violated the Rules. It protects the legal profession by
enforcing high standards of conduct, while at the same time ensuring that
complaints are dealt with fairly.
The Committee has the authority to take the following actions, depending
upon the seriousness of the lawyer's conduct and the circumstances
surrounding it:
- Refer the complaint to a special Mediation Program, in which a trained
volunteer mediator meets with the lawyer and the client to assist them in
resolving the complaint privately;
- Issue a private sanction to the lawyer (a "Letter or Admonition");
- Recommend to the Court that the lawyer receive a public condemnation
("censure");
- Recommend to the Court that the lawyer's right to practice law be taken
away for a specified period of time ("suspension"); or
- Recommend to the Court that the lawyer's license to practice law be
taken away ("disbarment").
IV. WHAT THE COMMITTEE CANNOT DO
In response to complaints, the Committee is limited to disciplining the
offending lawyer or referring the matter to a mediator (as outlined above).
The Committee cannot:
- Give you legal advice or represent you in a civil suit against your lawyer,
including a suit for legal malpractice or any other claim. If you wish to
obtain money from your lawyer on your claim of improper conduct, you
should consult an attorney knowledgeable in that field for advice and
representation. There are time limits for making certain claims, so you
should seek legal advice promptly, whether or not you file a complaint.
- Determine fee disputes between you and your lawyer. Lawyers are
required to participate in mandatory arbitration of fee disputes subject to certain conditions.
- Collect money for you. If an attorney owes you money, and you have not
obtained a judgment, you should consider hiring a lawyer to collect your
money.
- Generally speaking, immediately act on your complaint if there is
pending litigation as to the same material and substantial
issues.
If you are in doubt as to whether the Committee can help you, you may
contact the Committee for guidance:
Departmental Disciplinary Committee
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
First Judicial Department
61 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, New York 10006
Telephone (212) 401-0800
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 A.M.-5 P.M.
V. HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT
It is helpful, but
not required that you use our complaint form for your complaint. If you choose not to
use the Committee's form, make sure that your written complaint contains
the following information:
- Your name, address, and telephone number;
- The name, address, and telephone number of the lawyer against whom
you are making the complaint; and,
- A detailed and concise statement of the lawyer's conduct that is the
subject of the complaint.
Whether or not you use the Committee's form, your complaint must be
signed. Submit any documents (send copies and keep the originals)
which are related to, or substantiate your complaint. Send the complaint
and related documents to the Committee.
VI. COST
There is no charge for submitting a complaint to the Committee. Review,
investigation, and prosecution of your complaint are paid for by the State
of New York. If you hire an attorney to assist you in the complaint process,
you are responsible for the lawyer's fee.
VII. HOW COMPLAINTS ARE PROCESSED
A. Initial Screening
Every complaint is given a docket number and initially reviewed by an
attorney on the Committee staff. If it is determined that your
complaint involves a matter falling outside our Committee's authority, the
staff will notify you that your complaint is being rejected. A rejection does
not mean we did not believe you. It only means that what you said the
attorney did either was not a violation of any specific rule of the
Rules or we cannot pursue it for one of the following reasons:
- A major portion of your complaint is in essence a fee dispute over
which the Committee has no jurisdiction.
- The Committee cannot act on your complaint for other reasons having to
do with jurisdiction. For example, that the lawyer's registration address is not in Manhattan or the Bronx;
the lawyer has already been suspended or disbarred; the lawyer is
deceased; or there is a lawsuit pending that involves the same issues.
- Your complaint involves collecting a debt that a lawyer owes to you and
you have not exhausted available civil remedies.
- There appears to be little likelihood that your complaint alleging
professional misconduct can be proven due to the passage of time,
the unavailability of evidence or applicable law.
B. Initial Investigation
If the initial screening reveals that the complaint is within our Committee's
authority and may involve an ethical violation, the legal staff will carry out
an initial investigation of the case. During this investigation, the attorney
about whom you complained will be sent a copy of your complaint and will
be given the opportunity to respond to it. You, in turn, will be given the
opportunity to reply to the lawyer's response.
C. Second Screening
Following the initial investigation of your complaint, including a review of
the evidence submitted, the lawyer's response to the complaint, and your
reply, our Committee will determine whether additional investigation is
needed and, if so, a further investigation is undertaken. At that point an
attorney on the Committee staff reviews the entire file again and
makes a recommendation as to whether a violation of a rule
warranting discipline has occurred. That recommendation is based on
an assessment of the merits of the complaint, the evidence offered by
both sides and other relevant factors.
D. Dismissal
If the investigation reveals that the lawyer did not violate a specific rule in
the Rules, or if it appears that the complaint cannot be proven, the
Committee may decide that your complaint should be dismissed. Before
a complaint is dismissed, however, the staff recommendation, as well as
the entire file, will be reviewed by the Chief Counsel and again independently by at least one Committee member, who is a lawyer,
chosen on an alternating basis. If the member agrees, you will be notified in writing that your complaint is to be dismissed, but that you may
request reconsideration of that decision by a different Committee member
by notifying the Committee within 30 days of the notice of dismissal to
you.
E. The Committee's Mediation Program
In some cases that do not involve serious ethical violations and are
unlikely to result in a disciplinary sanction against a lawyer, the Committee
may decide to send your complaint to mediation, which is a private,
informal way to resolve a dispute. The mediator is a neutral third person
who tries to help disputing parties reach a mutually agreeable solution of
their differences. In both Manhattan and the Bronx there is a roster of
mediators who are trained to deal with disputes between lawyers and their
clients. The mediation will involve, at a minimum, telephone contact
between you, the lawyer, and the mediator. It may also involve a
mediation onference at which you, the lawyer and the mediator will be
present. The mediation program has been highly successful in resolving
disputes between clients and their lawyers, particularly in cases where the
complaint was generated by a failure in communication. Should
mediation fail, the Committee will determine how to proceed as
reflected above.
F. Further Investigation
If the staff attorney after second screening recommends that it is
likely that there has been a violation of a Disciplinary Rule, that
recommendation is reviewed by the Chief Counsel or the First Deputy
Chief Counsel and if the recommendation is accepted, the case is
assigned to one of the staff attorneys to conduct further
investigation which may require issuing subpoenas for documents and
records as well as interviewing witnesses including at times the
complainant as well as the attorney whose conduct is being investigated.
G. Private Letter of Admonition
In some cases, the investigation reveals that a lawyer has behaved
unethically and deserves to be disciplined, but that the violation is not
serious enough to warrant formal, public discipline. In such cases, our
Committee will send the lawyer a "Letter of Admonition." This is a private
sanction which states that the Committee finds the lawyer's conduct to be
in violation of the Rules. For example, such letters are
sent to first-time offenders who neglect a legal matter or fail to return client
property promptly. If a Letter of Admonition is sent to the lawyer about
whom you complained, by law we are not pemitted to show you a copy of
that letter, but you will receive a notice informing you that such a letter
was sent, that it will be kept in the lawyer's permanent file and that it may
be used against the lawyer should there be any future ethical violation.
H. Formal Charges
In a case involving an allegation of serious unethical conduct that can be proven, or a case against a lawyer having a history of other repeated provable
offenses, it may be determined that formal charges should be brought
against the lawyer. Formal charges (the first step required for the
imposition of public censure, suspension or disbarment) are initially
prepared by the legal staff, and require the approval of at least two
Policy Committee members.
I. Hearing and Review by the Court
If formal charges are brought against a lawyer, the Court will appoint a
Referee to conduct the hearing. Staff attorneys under the supervision of
the Chief and Deputy Counsels develop and prosecute the case against
the offending lawyer before the Referee. You may be asked to testify
along with other witnesses. After the hearing, which is similar to a formal
trial, the Referee issues a Report and Recommendation as to whether the
charges have been proven, and recomends an appropriate sanction. The
entire proceeding is then reviewed by a Hearing Panel assigned by the
Chairman of the Committee. It generally consists of five or six Committee
members, one of whom is a public member. If the Hearing Panel finds
that the charges have been proven, its Report and Determination as to
sanction (click here for the options) the hearing
transcript, the evidence introduced at the hearing, and the Referee's
Report and Recommendation are then sent to the Court. The Court, after
its review, may confirm, reject or modify the Referee's findings and/or the
Hearing Panel's recommendation. Only the Court has the authority to
impose public discipline on the lawyer, including censure, suspension or
disbarment.
VIII. CONFIDENTIALITY
During the investigation and resolution of a disciplinary complaint, the
entire disciplinary proceeding, including the existence of your complaint,
is, by law, confidential and the Committee may not disclose this to the public [New York
Judiciary Law, Section 90(10)]. However, if a
recommendation for a public sanction is forwarded to, and upheld by, the
Court, the Court's written decision and the entire record of the
proceedings are available to the public for inspection.
IX. HOW LONG YOU CAN EXPECT THE PROCESS TO TAKE
Generally speaking, the initial screening of a complaint will take about four
to six weeks. You may contact the Committee in writing to review the
status of the complaint. Because of Section 90(10) of the Judiciary Law and the Committee's limited resources, telephone inquires cannot be processed. After the
initial screening it is difficult to predict the Iength of time a case will take
because that depends on the gravity of the complaint. If a
recommendation is made to dismiss the complaint after receipt of the
lawyer's answer and your reply to that answer, generally you will be
notified within six months of the filing of your complaint. If the
recommendation is that a violation probably occurred, the time required
for the additional investigation and prosecution phase varies with the
seriousness and complexity of the case, the availability of witnesses and
documentary evidence, the number of complaints being handled, and
other factors. If your complaint results in formal charges and a hearing,
and involves claims of attorney misconduct sufficient to justify suspension
or disbarment, it may take a number of months before the proceedings
are complete. On the other hand, if the charge is less serious and does
not require a hearing (for example, if the result is mediation or a Letter of
Admonition), the entire process is often completed more quickly. Every
effort is made to act on each complaint quickly and efficiently.
Consideration of a complaint may ultimately result in depriving a lawyer of
the ability to practice his or her profession. Given its responsibility to you,
as well as to the lawyer in question, the Committee must act with care.
X. REINSTATEMENTS
Section 90 of the Judiciary Law and Court Rule 22 NYCRR §603.14 permit attorneys to apply for reinstatement to
the practice of law after the period of suspension or disbarment. An attorney who has
been disbarred or stricken from the roll of attorneys may not petition for
reinstatement until the expiration of seven years from the effective date of
disbarment (id.). Click here for directions on what a petition for
reinstatement must contain.
XI. DISCIPLINARY RESIGNATIONS
The Court permits an attorney to resign from the bar during an
investigation by the Committee or after the filing of charges if the attorney
submits an affidavit in compliance with 22 NYCRR §603.11, acknowledging that the attorney knows the nature of
potential charges which are set forth in the affidavit and cannot defend
against them. A resignation during the pendency of an investigation or after is the equivalent of
disbarment.
XII. OTHER SOURCES OF HELP
There are various agencies that provide assistance in the areas in which
our Committee cannot help you, or that can provide additional relief while
your complaint is being processed by the Committee.
I. Lawyer Referral:
If you wish to locate a lawyer to replace the lawyer against whom you
have complained, or to counsel you in connection with possible claims
you may have against that lawyer, the following bar associations in our
area have legal referral services:
For Manhattan:
Association of the Bar of the City
of New York
42 West 44th Street
New York, New York 10036
(212) 626-7373
New York County Lawyer's
Association
14 Vesey Street
New York, New York 10007
(212) 267-6646
For the Bronx:
Bronx County Bar Association
851 Grand Concourse
Room 124
Bronx, New York 10451
(7 I 8) 293-5600
2. Misappropriated Funds:
If you believe that a lawyer has misappropriated your money or other
assets, you may wish to consult the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection
concerning your right to reimbursement from that fund. Complete
information about the fund and its procedures, its contact addresses
and numbers, and claim forms may be found on the Lawyers' Fund
Website (http://www.nylawfund.org). Also, that organization may
be reached at:
The Lawyers' Fund for Client
Protection
119 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
(518) 434-1935 or
(1-800) 442-FUND
3. Fee Disputes:
If you are having a fee dispute with your present attorney and wish to
have arbitration of that dispute, you should contact:
Joint Committee on Fee Disputes
14 Vesey Street
New York, New York 10007
(212) 267-6646, Ext. 218
The New York State Court System has established a Statewide Fee
Dispute Resolution Program (FDRP) to resolve attorney-client disputes
over legal fees through arbitration (and in some cases mediation). Please
visit their website to see about whether the FDRP is right for you: http://www.nycourts.gov/admin/feedispute/index.shtml
4. Mandatory Resolution of Fee Disputes:
If a fee dispute arises in a civil matter where the representation began
after January I, 2002 and the amount involved is more than $1,000 and
less than $50,000, resolution of the fee dispute is mandatory and will be
conducted by:
Joint Committee on Fee Disputes
14 Vesey Street
New York, New York 10007
(212) 267-6646, Ext. 218
There is no mandatory resolution program for fee disputes in criminal
matters. The Committee has no authority to resolve fee disputes in
criminal matters.
5. Unauthorized Practice of Law:
If you feel that a non-attorney is improperly holding himself or
herself out as an attorney or otherwise practicing law, you should
contact:
For Manhattan:
District Attorney's Office
One Hogan Place
New York, New York 10013
(212) 335-9000
For the Bronx:
District Attorney's Office
198 East 161st Street
Bronx. New York 10451
(718) 590-2000
6. Criminal Conduct:
If you believe that your attorney is engaging in criminal conduct, you
should contact:
For Manhattan:
District Attorney's Office
One Hogan Place
New York, New York 10013
(212) 335-8900
For the Bronx:
District Attorney's Office
198 East 161st Street
Bronx, New York 10451
(718) 590-2000
7. Judges:
To lodge a complaint against a judge, you should contact:
State Commission on Judicial
Conduct
61 Broadway, 12th Floor
New York, New York 10006
(212) 809-0566
CONCLUSION
We hope that this is helpful to answering your questions about how to
bring a complaint against a lawyer in Manhattan or the Bronx, and what
happens after you bring a complaint. The legal profession expects all
lawyers to conduct themselves in an honest and ethical manner in
accordance with the standards set by the Rules of Professional Conduct. We are committed to giving every complaint against a
lawyer full and fair consideration in an expeditious manner, and imposing
appropriate disciplinary sanctions against lawyers who do not meet the
high ethical standards of the profession.
If you have additional general questions about this process, please contact our
staff.
CASES
2010
January 7, 2010
Matter of Weinstein
Matter of Zuber
January 14, 2010
Matter of Markman
Matter of Snyder
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