Legal Ethics
Visiting Cousin in Psych Ward Gets N.Y. Lawyer Suspended for 5 Years
Posted Aug 19, 2008, 11:38 am CST
By Martha Neil
A former chief counsel for the New York fire department's bureau of legal affairs has been suspended from practice for five years.
His offense against legal ethics was visiting a cousin in a psychiatric unit in 2002, in order to complete the paperwork for the sale of the cousin's home in Brooklyn to himself, in exchange for $175,000, reports the New York Law Journal, in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
A special referee's report (PDF), which was provided by New York Lawyer, said David Clinton hadn't violated any legal ethics rules. But the 2nd Department of the Appellate Division found that the referee had misunderstood the applicable standards. Also, the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene has established procedures that must be followed to obtain such signatures from a psychiatric patient, and Clinton violated that protocol, the appellate panel said.
The cousin's "vulnerability was patent. The respondent filed and recorded the deed despite being told that he could not obtain signatures on legal documents from patients in psychiatric wards without following accepted procedures," the court stated in a written opinion.
The panel said it decided to suspend Clinton, rather than disbar him, because of his "unblemished disciplinary history" and character evidence that including a letter from former Fire Commissioner Howard Safir.
Hal Lieberman of Hinshaw & Culbertson represented Clinton, and declined to comment.
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Comments
Posted by Woodside Bob - 3 months, 1 week, 6 days, 6 hours, 7 minutes ago
If more of us in the law judged ourselves by “the appearance of impropriety” standard instead of the “stretch the envelope” standard regarding our proposed conduct, we would be reading fewer of these stories.
Posted by latonia - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes ago
I agree. So many of us as attorneys are willing to push the envelope and at the end of the day after the publicity and bar proceedings, its never worth it.
Posted by associate - 3 months, 1 week, 5 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes ago
I’m wondering if this wasn’t something more to do with medcaid than with ripping off his insane cousin.
Posted by caveman - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 11 hours, 13 minutes ago
It very well could have been that he was trying to help his cousin rather than rip him off, but is ripping off medicare or medicad and better??
Posted by Langlais - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 10 hours, 33 minutes ago
Good point Bob. So many forget that the ethical standards are the minimal, baseline standards and too many folks ride that precarious, minimal line. We should endeavor to stay well above the line.
Posted by R - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes ago
Um, that headline is just a tad bit misleading. He wasn’t suspended for five years for visiting his cousin in a psych ward. He was suspended for trying to get his instituionalized cousin to sign over the cousin’s house to himself!
Posted by Temi - 3 months, 1 week, 3 days, 8 hours, 11 minutes ago
Yes R the headline is very misleading!
Lawyers are supposed to push the envelope when it comes to their clients; heck that’s what we’re paid to do. But when it comes to your own personal dealings (including family—immediate and distant) it’s then imperative to heed to the higher standard…..“the appearance of impropriety”.
Posted by William - 3 months, 1 week, 2 days, 11 hours, 31 minutes ago
No, lawyers are not supposed to “push the envelope.“ Our real job is not practicing law to make a buck, but to give our clients advice that keeps them well inside the legal line. It’s this push the envelope, tell your client what he or she wants to hear mentality that has our profession so universally despised.
If you want to push the envelope go work for the Office of Legal Counsel at the White House. John Yoo was “pushing the envelope” when he told his bosses that treaties don’t apply to the President because he has dictatorial powers including the power to torture. Many of us believe that his advice, beyond being legal malpractice warranting being disbarred, amounts to a war crime under both domestic and international law. He should be prosecuted for his role in this conspiracy.
True, Yoo’s case is an extreme example of pushing he envelope, but it’s a lesson for all lawyers. We need to advise our clients and conduct ourselves well within not just established legal, but ethical bounds and, not try to step right on the line of ethics and/or law. Real ethics is doing the right thing when no one is watching.