Lawyer disbarred following alleged cocaine-licking assault on employee at nightclub he owned
A New York lawyer convicted in 2008 for allegedly licking cocaine off a waitress at the nightclub that he owned was disbarred last week partly for his conduct in a civil lawsuit that followed. (Image from Shutterstock)
A New York lawyer convicted in 2008 for allegedly licking cocaine off a waitress at the nightclub that he owned was disbarred last week partly for his conduct in a civil lawsuit that followed.
The Appellate Division’s Second Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court ordered the disbarment of lawyer Gaurav Malhotra, also known as Gary Malhotra, of New York in a May 15 opinion noted by the Legal Profession Blog.
Malhotra was disbarred based on allegations in two ethics cases. One stemmed from the 2008 criminal conviction. The other stemmed from Malhotra’s failure to respond to subpoenas in the waitress’s civil suit and his failure to satisfy the $1 million default judgment that she obtained.
The nightclub owned by Malhotra was identified as Quo in a March 2015 story by the Daily Mail. Prosecutors had alleged that Malhotra grabbed the breast and buttocks of the waitress, pushed her against a wall, and told her that he wanted to “sniff some” off her breasts, buttocks and shoulder.
Malhotra then allegedly attempted to kiss the waitress, who was identified as “NS” by the appeals court. He also poured cocaine on the woman’s neck, arms and upper chest and licked the drug from those areas, prosecutors had alleged.
Malhotra did not testify at the criminal trial. He later told a grievance committee that he considered the woman’s allegations to be “pretty silly,” and he had created an environment that made him an easy target.
Malhotra was convicted in December 2008 of sexual abuse in the third degree, attempted forcible touching and harassment in the second degree. He received a conditional discharge requiring him to complete five days of community service or serve 90 days in prison.
He did not report the conviction to ethics regulators. The conviction came to light in the ethics case concerning the civil suit filed by the waitress in 2010. She had alleged gender and sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
Malhotra testified that he made a good-faith effort to settle the civil suit with an offer of $25,000 to $35,000, which he would fund with a loan from his parents. When Malhotra was asked about a $100,000 payment wired by a client to an offshore bank account, Malhotra said the payment was for legal fees owed, and he used it to repay a loan to a family member.
Malhotra also testified that he had gone “through rough times with substance abuse” in 2007, but he has been sober since 2017. He also said he was remorseful.
The appeals court said disbarment was appropriate, considering Malhotra’s “egregious” behavior in the ethics case that included a refusal to acknowledge his criminal conduct and inconsistent testimony.
The New York court system does not have contact information online for Malhotra.
