Hello everyone and welcome to this Ethics Alert which will discuss the recent New Jersey Supreme Court Order approving a stipulation and reprimanding a lawyer for falsifying a letter and submitting it to a disciplinary committee during its investigation of his conduct. The opinion is In the Matter of Nirav Kurt Mehta, Docket No. DRB 16-276, District Docket No. IIIB-2015-0033E (November 4, 2016). The October 25, 2016 New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board letter setting forth the stipulation is here: https://drblookupportal.judiciary.state.nj.us/DocumentHandler.ashx?document_id=1077214 and the 11/4/16 NJ Supreme Court order approving the stipulation is here: https://drblookupportal.judiciary.state.nj.us/DocumentHandler.ashx?document_id=1077588
According to the Disciplinary Review Board letter, “on May 25, 2015, respondent’s former client, Shanti Sarup, filed a grievance against him, alleging that, more than ten years prior, respondent had given him poor legal advice in an immigration matter and, thus, exposed him to deportation from the United States.”
“In response to the DEC’s investigation of the grievance, respondent fabricated a document and submitted it to disciplinary authorities. The fabricated document purported to be a May 7, 2003 letter from respondent to the grievant, providing sound legal advice on the underlying immigration matter. Respondent’s motivation for submitting the fabricated document was to neutralize the grievant’s claim that respondent had provided him incorrect legal advice in 2003.”
In mitigation, the stipulation recited respondent’s lack of prior discipline, the more than ten-year passage of time since his representation of the grievant, and the fact that the fabricated letter was submitted only to the DEC. The stipulation described respondent’s deception as “an unfortunate reflexive response to the filed Grievance” and an “effort…to mitigate what [respondent] may have perceived as a professional negligence issue.” The November 4, 2016 Supreme Court Order approved the recommendation and reprimanded the lawyer.
Bottom line: This lawyer not only fabricated a letter which was intended to “neutralize” his former client’s claim that he had provided incorrect legal advice during the representation, but he submitted the false letter in a pending disciplinary matter against him. It is very surprising that the lawyer was able to negotiate a simple reprimand for the misconduct.
Be careful out there.
Disclaimer: this e-mail is not an advertisement, does not contain any legal advice, and does not create an attorney/client relationship and the comments herein should not be relied upon by anyone who reads it.
Joseph A. Corsmeier, Esquire
Law Office of Joseph A. Corsmeier, P.A.
29605 U.S. Highway 19 N. Suite 150
Clearwater, Florida 33761
Office (727) 799-1688
Fax (727) 799-1670
