Recent Cozen Hire Is Suspended After Admitting Improper Billing at Previous Firm
A lawyer who recently joined Cozen O’Connor in Manhattan has been suspended from practice for improperly billing a client for personal trips while at a previous firm.
The New York Appellate Division, First Department temporarily suspended lawyer John Horenstein on Thursday pending resolution of the ethics case. Horenstein was accused of billing a client $40,000 for six personal trips to Dallas in 2011 while working at a previous firm, according to the appeals court opinion. He admitted the allegations were substantially accurate, but reserved the right to present mitigating evidence at a later time.
Reuters identifies Horenstein as a recent Cozen hire. A cached version of his bio says he joined the firm’s New York office in 2012 in the litigation department, focusing on aviation, mass tort and product liability matters. According to Reuters, Horenstein’s alleged misconduct occurred while he was a partner at Condon & Forsyth.
Horenstein’s lawyer had informed the First Department’s disciplinary committee that Horenstein had resigned from his previous firm because of false billing.
Representatives of Cozen O’Connor and Condon & Forsyth did not immediately respond to ABA Journal emails requesting comment.
