The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is considering whether to grant a writ of habeas corpus to a former attorney convicted of stealing money from a client's escrow account after the ex-lawyer raised concerns about a flawed jury instruction during her trial in Nassau County.

Richard Mischel of Mischel & Horn represented the former lawyer, Nancy Enoksen, at oral arguments before the three-judge panel Wednesday. Mischel argued that at Enoksen's charging conference, her trial judge said he planned to use a "standard" version of New York's Criminal Jury Instructions, but he failed to follow through.