Former BigLaw 'Gatsbabies' associate is disbarred after guilty plea to vehicular assault
A former BigLaw associate once featured in an article on “Gatsbabies” has been disbarred as a result of his guilty plea to vehicular assault.
Tabber Benedict entered a guilty plea in November 2012 to several charges stemming from a 2011 car accident on the Fourth of July in which he was accused of striking a bicyclist and leaving the scene of the accident, the Am Law Daily reports. The charges included aggravated vehicular assault and leaving the scene of the accident. He was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
The Legal Profession Blog links to this disbarment by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department as well as news coverage that portrayed Benedict as a “pretentious” Manhattan socialite.
Benedict’s personal website says he is a 2002 Columbia law grad who worked at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Schulte Roth & Zabel, and White and Case. The Am Law Daily confirmed his employment at Hughes Hubbard and White & Case.
The 2012 “Gatsbabies” article in the New York Observer claimed that flamboyance was making a comeback during the economic downturn. The publication visited a SoHo party thrown for hundreds of guests by a “boyishly handsome” globe-trotting retired entrepreneur. The article described Benedict, one of the guests, as “a slick-haired attorney whose khaki suit and classic looks gave him the appearance of an attendee at a convention of Patrick Bateman impersonators.”
Benedict told the Observer he had recently launched his own firm. According to the article, “Gatsbabies are not particularly concerned with how others see them, as long as they’re being seen.” The story illustrated with a quote from Benedict. “People look at me and they’re like, ‘That spoiled prick,’” he said. In reality, Benedict said, he was raised by a single mother and “I was literally using food stamps.”
Benedict was featured in another article by the New York Post that reported he threw himself a “swanky” going away party in January before he entered prison. According to the story, he told his guests he was going to Europe.
