Appeals Court Suspends Lawyer Accused of Exposing Himself to Opposing Counsel
A lawyer in Rochester, N.Y., has been suspended for two years based on a referee’s findings that he exposed himself and fondled his opposing counsel during a pretrial conference.
New York’s Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, said lawyer Lawrence Baker had disputed many of the allegations, report the Legal Profession Blog and the New York Law Journal. Baker had only admitted engaging in inappropriate conversation and giving the opposing counsel a “love tap” on the shoulder. He had maintained the conduct was “a bad joke.”
The conduct occurred in 2010 after a judge overseeing a pretrial conference in chambers left the room to attend to another matter, according to the appeals court decision (PDF). Baker engaged in “unwanted and highly inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature,” the appeals court said, basing its conclusion on the referee’s findings.
The referee had found that Baker exposed himself, kissed the opposing lawyer on the neck, and shoved his hands inside her blouse. The appellate opinion said Baker should be suspended for two years and until further order of the court.
Baker declined an ABA Journal request for comment. A friend of Baker’s, Rochester lawyer Douglas Burgess, contacted the ABA Journal and noted that no criminal charges were brought against Baker in the incident. Burgess believes that “the characterization of the things that went down were inflamed and overblown.”
Baker is “a gentleman in his early 60s,” Burgess said. “This is not a young and spirited frisky male, this is an older gentleman.”
