07/24/12 In a report released on Monday, a judicial referee said that Bronx Surrogate Lee Holzman had committed misconduct by failing to fire a lawyer who had apparently billed estates hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees before he performed the work. According to the report, Lee Holzman should have fired the lawyer after the matter came to his notice, but he failed to take any action. Under normal circumstances, such practice would have been disapproved from the position of the Bronx Surrogate. But, Holzman instituted a repayment system for the lawyer instead of reporting him to the authorities. It has also been learned that Holzman (the Bronx Surrogate) and Lippman (the suspect lawyer) are long-standing friends. The report was created by retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Felice Shea. The report also found that Holzman should be cleared of several other charges against him, which stem from his supervision of probate and estate proceedings. Such charges, which have been found without merit included claims that Holzman had violated the law by rubber-stamping legal fees for Lippman without proper documentation and his actions led to corruption in his court. Robert Tembeckjian, the counsel for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct said that he would ask the commission to remove Holzman from the bench. The counsel also said that he plans to ask the commission to overrule the findings of Shea and sustain most of the other charges brought against Holzman. Related Article Commission on Judicial Conduct Faces Historical Challenge from a Sitting Judge For the first time in its 34-year history, the Commission on Judicial Conduct faces a challenge to its authority, and it’s brought by a sitting judge, Raymond G. Dougan of Massachusetts. In a judicial discipline case that seeks to emphasize the lines between judicial discretion and judicial misconduct, Judg .... The ‘Secret Government’ in Texas Judicial Conduct How does the oversight commission in charge of judicial misconduct in Texas work? It seems the system is all for protecting errant judges and denying the public their right to know what happens behind closed doors. .... Two Judges Disciplined by NYS Conduct Commission On Friday, the Commission on Judicial Conduct disciplined two judges. In the first case, the commission recommended the censure of Suffolk County District Court Judge Paul Hensley for participating in for-profit poker games at a social club, which is illegal by nature. The games had taken place in 2008, requi .... David Godosdky, who represented Holzman said that the commission would in all probabilities dismiss the lone misconduct charge still sustained by Shea against Holzman. The charges against Holzman were filed after Lippman was indicted in 2010 of stealing $300,000 in excess fees. Lippman did this in his capacity of a lawyer for the public administrator who handles estates without any designated heir. Lippman has pleaded not guilty and his criminal case is pending in Bronx. The surprising thin in this entire case, and something that speaks strongly for Holzman is that Holzman waived the confidentiality which under normal circumstances would have kept the judicial conduct hearings under wraps. This is the 11th time in the last 35 years and over 750 disciplinary proceedings that a judge chose to waive the right to confidentiality to judicial conduct hearings. According to the report, Holzman became aware of Lippman's misconduct in early 2006. However, rather than terminating him, Holzman demoted him and created a system where he could work and turn over the new fees earned to restitute the excessive fees he had earlier obtained from the office. The report mentioned, “By allowing a lawyer who overcharged estates, cheated PA's office, lied to him and breached his trust to continue to represent the PA in the administration of estates, respondent put at further risk the estates under his care.”

Share    Tweet

Rate This Article 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Select    View top rated articles

Printable Version    PDF Version    Email to a Friend    Post A Comment    View Comment    Discuss

Featured Testimonials

Although I am an entry-level-first-year student, LawCrossing bagged me a job! It is simply amazing! Thank you so much! Dorothy

Facts

LawCrossing Fact #186: LawCrossing has virtually the largest collection of job listings in the world.

"We want to hear your thoughts. Please comment on this article (below)!" Comments

Article ID: 7979     Article Title: Judicial Conduct Commission Seeks Removal of Bronx Surrogate Comment not found for this article. Comment

Facebook comments: