Andy Epstein (Partner-Florham Park, NJ) successfully argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court in connection with a petition for review from a 4-2 decision of the Disciplinary Review Board imposing a censure on his attorney client. The grievant in the disciplinary proceeding was the attorney representing the wife in a divorce case, while Andy’s client represented the husband. At issue was the husband’s sale of his failing business, the proceeds of which he applied to the payment of legitimate business and financial debt to avoid a financial disaster for him and his estranged wife. Although the wife’s attorney had full knowledge of the details after the sale, he took no action in the Family Part, but rather filed an ethics grievance against Andy’s client that turned into a formal Complaint prosecuted by the Office of Attorney Ethics.

The Complaint was the subject of a four-day trial before a Special Ethics Master, who dismissed the Complaint, holding that there was no clear and convincing evidence that the wife had a property interest in the proceeds of the sale of her husband’s solely owned business and that there was no proof that Andy’s client engaged in deceptive conduct. The Court entered an Order dismissing the charges against Andy’s client, and the Disciplinary Review Board reversed in a split decision. There will not be a formal opinion, so Andy’s client avoids having his reputation affected by being a defendant in an ethics Complaint that was dismissed.