1. Home
  2. AGC
  3. Annual Report

Annual Report
Period Covered 1/01/21 - 12/31/21

The Attorney Grievance Committees are authorized to investigate, review, and prosecute complaints of attorney misconduct within the Fourth Judicial Department, pursuant to Judiciary Law, §90 and Section 1022.19 of the Rules of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department (22 NYCRR §1022.19).

Serious allegations of misconduct are reviewed by the Committee and forwarded to the Appellate Division for disposition and/or trials.

Table of Contents:

Legend
  • "Matters" includes the following:
     - Complaints
     - Inquiries (Excluding telephone inquiries)
     - Sua Sponte Investigations
  • Individual complaints and inquiries. *
  • Number of respondent/attorneys.**
    As some attorneys are subject of multiple complaints the number of matters may exceed the number of cases.
  • Includes definite, interim and indefinite suspensions. ***

Fourth Department Disciplinary Activities

I. Matters Processed:*
A. Matters Pending at Start of Period 405
B. New Matters During Period 1486
C. Closed Matters Reactivated During Period 6
D. Total Matters to be Processed During Period (A+B+C) 1897
E. Total Matters Disposed of During Period 1461
F. Matters Pending at End of Period 436

II. Matters Disposed of by Committee:

 Cases** Matters
A. Rejected as Failing to State a Complaint 571 684
B. Referred to Other Disciplinary Committees 91 92
C. Referred to Other Agencies 0 0
D. Dismissed or Withdrawn 412 471
E. Dismissed through Mediation 0 0
F. Letter of Advisement 86 105
G. Letter of Admonition 21 38
H. Admonition (or reprimand
I. Referred to Appellate Division (Disc. Proc 50 71
Total Disposed of During Period (Same as I.E. 1231 1461

III. Cases Processed in all Courts:**
A. Cases Pending at Start of Period 69
1. Disciplinary Proceedings 28
2. Other 41
B. Cases Received During Period 50
1. Disciplinary Proceedings 6
2. Other 44
C. Total to be Processed During Period 119
D. Cases Closed
1. Disbarred 3
2. Disciplinary Resignations 1
3. Suspended *** 27
4. Censured 2
5. Private Censure 0
6. Remanded to Grievance Committee 1
7. Discontinued 4
8. Dismissed 2
9. Reinstatements Granted 9
10. Reinstatements Denied 1
11. Non-Disciplinary Resignations 11
12. All other Dispositions 14
13. Total Closed 75
E. Total Cases Pending at End of Period 44
1. Disciplinary Proceedings 22
2. Other 22

Fifth Judicial District

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Committee Meetings 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 4
Attorney Appearances 19 20 14 15 19 17 13 18 23 18
Caution Letters 44 41 46 47 40 49 41
Advisement Letters 44 32 17
Admonition Letters 4 7 12 1 10 11 5 7 9 6
Petitions Referred to the Appellate Division 9 9 8 8 4 7 6 8 4 12
Complaints Received - (Includes Reopened Complaints) 638 739 495 550 534 484 541 486 489 533

Seventh Judicial District

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Committee Meetings 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 3
Attorney Appearances 13 17 11 8 11 16 6 11 16 6
Caution Letters 47 44 33 44 46 71 39
Advisement Letters 25 53 36
Admonition Letters 5 6 4 3 9 15 4 8 6 2
Petitions Referred to the Appellate Division 6 13 6 7 9 5 4 3 5 5
Complaints Received - (Includes Reopened Complaints) 630 666 613 572 757 595 647 635 463 555

Eighth Judicial District

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Committee Meetings 5 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 3 3
Attorney Appearances 21 13 16 16 14 18 5 13 13 16
Caution Letters 63 74 74 59 39 73 56
Advisement Letters 40 52 45
Admonition Letters 11 5 5 9 6 8 4 6 7 11
Petitions Referred to the Appellate Division 5 5 11 7 10 10 2 4 3 2
Complaints Received - (Includes Reopened Complaints) 944 898 837 647 833 581 697 622 668 712

  Comment  Share your thoughts, comments or suggestions as part of the Court's Excellence Initiative.