Associate Gets 2-Year Suspension for Billing Clients for Work That Wasn't Performed
A former associate at the Albany, N.Y., law firm of Maynard O’Connor Smith & Catalinotto has had his law license suspended for two years because he billed clients for work he didn’t perform.
Health and family issues were a factor in Mark Nizer’s misconduct, according to last week’s opinion (PDF) by the state Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department. However, the court wrote, “attorneys must attend to their clients’ interests punctually and with vigor despite distracting and stressful intrusions from personal and family problems or advise their clients of their option to obtain other counsel,” Reuters reports.
A 2003 graduate of Albany Law School of Union University, Nizer previously practiced at Tabner Ryan & Keniry before joining the Maynard O’Connor firm in 2008, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Exactly when he left Maynard O’Connor and how the billing issues came to the law firm’s attention isn’t clear. Its managing partner declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
