Four attorneys from Bergen County New Jersey, previously barred to practice law, were charged with alleged misuse of clients’ funds and unauthorized practice of law. The attorneys were arrested following complaints triggered by civilians and based on information from the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics. Lawrence Jaskot from Lodi who was disbarred in January of 2014 is accused of taking more than $75,000 from his attorney’s trust account for personal expenses. Leonard Adoff, another disbarred attorney, allegedly used $73,000 from an attorney trust account to pay off illegal gambling debts. Jonathan Greenman, another continued to practice law after his license was suspended and received money related to a real-estate matter than he never
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According to the textbook Ethics and Professional Responsibility for Paralegals, we are able to determine and conclude how and when these two sanctions are imposed. The textbook states that ‘disbarment’ is “only imposed for the most egregious violations or when there is a long-term pattern of serious unethical conduct”, while ‘suspension’ is when the attorney is “derived of the right to practice law for a specified period of time”. As has been noted, two of the attorneys (Jaskot and Adoff) have been disbarred and the other two (Greenman and Gahwyler) have been under suspension. All four attorneys were held in the Bergen County Jail, each one of them facing different charges. On one hand, Jaskot was charged with one count of misapplication of entrusted property and one count of theft by deception, while Adoff was charged with one count of misapplication of entrusted property. On the other hand, Greenman was charged with theft by failure to make lawful disposition and unauthorized practice of law and Gahwyler who was charged with unauthorized practice of law, theft by deception and misapplication of entrusted …show more content…
2C:21-22B(1). Two have practiced law while under suspension and the other two after they have been disbarred. At this point, Jaskot and Adoff, the two attorneys previously disbarred are not charged with unauthorized practice of law, according to the article. The question here would be: Why have they not been charged with unauthorized practice of law? Jascot practiced law when last year he received $56,000 reserved for a trust fund that was meant to pay taxes that a client owed to the state following a real-estate transaction, but he failed to pay those taxes. He acted as the seller’s attorney on a property sale closing when he received the aforementioned amount of money. Similarly did Adoff, who used $73,000 from an attorney trust fund for a personal use. He referred to the payments as ‘commissions’ on checks in order to conceal the true nature of the
According to the textbook Ethics and Professional Responsibility for Paralegals, we are able to determine and conclude how and when these two sanctions are imposed. The textbook states that ‘disbarment’ is “only imposed for the most egregious violations or when there is a long-term pattern of serious unethical conduct”, while ‘suspension’ is when the attorney is “derived of the right to practice law for a specified period of time”. As has been noted, two of the attorneys (Jaskot and Adoff) have been disbarred and the other two (Greenman and Gahwyler) have been under suspension. All four attorneys were held in the Bergen County Jail, each one of them facing different charges. On one hand, Jaskot was charged with one count of misapplication of entrusted property and one count of theft by deception, while Adoff was charged with one count of misapplication of entrusted property. On the other hand, Greenman was charged with theft by failure to make lawful disposition and unauthorized practice of law and Gahwyler who was charged with unauthorized practice of law, theft by deception and misapplication of entrusted …show more content…
2C:21-22B(1). Two have practiced law while under suspension and the other two after they have been disbarred. At this point, Jaskot and Adoff, the two attorneys previously disbarred are not charged with unauthorized practice of law, according to the article. The question here would be: Why have they not been charged with unauthorized practice of law? Jascot practiced law when last year he received $56,000 reserved for a trust fund that was meant to pay taxes that a client owed to the state following a real-estate transaction, but he failed to pay those taxes. He acted as the seller’s attorney on a property sale closing when he received the aforementioned amount of money. Similarly did Adoff, who used $73,000 from an attorney trust fund for a personal use. He referred to the payments as ‘commissions’ on checks in order to conceal the true nature of the