NY Lawyer Loses $144K Job Over Office Computer and Credit Card Issues

An attorney who made $144,070 a year as deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York Division of Human Rights has lost his job over $530 in charges to a state credit card and use of his office computer for outside legal work.

Inspector General Joseph Fisch says attorney Thomas Shanahan made $530 in improper charges, including Manhattan restaurant expenses, and had been counseled almost a year ago about improper charges, reports the New York Law Journal, in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.). Shanahan is 41 and lives in Manhattan.

Shanahan also was found to have been doing outside legal work on his office computer, Fisch says, after having sought and been denied permission from the state to do so.

A number of government agencies have rules against attorneys maintaining a private law practice.

The article does not include any comment from Shanahan or say whether the legal publication attempted to reach him. However, Shanahan says on a website for his former law firm that he closed down his practice after accepting an appointment by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer to the human rights division job.

The ABA Journal has e-mailed Shanahan but has not yet received a response.

Updated at 2:39 p.m. to include information about Shanahan website and request for comment.