In the wake of a lawyer’s year-and-a-day suspension for neglecting cases after the death of his son—and despite shorter suspensions given to two other lawyers for sexual misconduct—attorneys say the state Supreme Court’s disciplinary board’s role isn’t to police attorneys tarnishing the profession’s image as much as it is to protect clients.
On April 30, David M. Siegel was suspended for accepting payment for several bankruptcy cases, performing no work on them and failing to refund his clients’ money. His conduct was the result of distress over the loss of his 4-year-old son to a brain tumor.