Opinion
Docket No. DRB 13-405
03-26-2014
RE: In the Matter of Sebastian Onyi Ibezim, Jr.
ISABEL FRANK ACTING CHIEF COUNSEL ELLEN A. BRODSKY ACTING DEPUTY CHIEF COUNSEL LILLIAN LEWIN BARRY R. PETERSEN JR. DONA S. SEROTA -TESCHNER COLIN T. TAMS KATHRYN ANNE WINTERLE ASSISTANT COUNSEL
BONNIE C. FROST, ESQ., CHAIR
EDNA Y. BAUGH, ESQ., VICE-CHAIR
BRUCE W. CLARK, ESQ.
JEANNE DOREMUS
HON. MAURICE J. GALLIPOLI
THOMAS J. HOBERMAN
ANNE C. SINGER, ESQ.
MORRIS YAMNER, ESQ.
ROBERT C. ZMIRICH ISABEL FRANK
ACTING CHIEF COUNSEL ELLEN A. BRODSKY
ACTING DEPUTY CHIEF COUNSEL LILLIAN LEWIN
BARRY R. PETERSEN JR.
DONA S. SEROTA -TESCHNER
COLIN T. TAMS
KATHRYN ANNE WINTERLE
ASSISTANT COUNSEL
RICHARD J. HUGHES JUSTICE COMPLEX
CERTIFIED MAIL , R.R.R. & REGULAR MAIL
Sebastian Onyi Ibezim, Jr., Esq.
Ibezim & Associates, PC
936 Broad Street - 2nd Floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102 District Docket No. XIV-2012-0131E
LETTER OF ADMONITION Dear Mr. Ibezim:
The Disciplinary Review Board has reviewed the motion for discipline by consent (admonition), filed by the Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) in the above matter, pursuant to R. 1:20-10(b). Following a review of the record, the Board determined to grant the motion and to impose an admonition.
Specifically, from about June 13, 2005 through May 31, 2011, you maintained outstanding trust balances for a number of your clients, some of whom were unidentified. Your conduct was unethical and a violation of R. 1:21-6 and RPC 1.15(d).
In imposing only an admonition, the Board considered that you acknowledged your wrongdoing by entering into a stipulation with the OAE, that nothing in the record indicates any harm to clients or third parties, that you have hired an assistant to help you locate clients and resolve medical liens, that you retained an accountant to reconcile your trust account and reconstruct your trust account records, that you were diligent in resolving the previously unidentified balances, and that you have no disciplinary history in over sixteen years at the bar.
Your conduct adversely reflected not only upon you as an attorney, but also upon all members of the bar. Accordingly, the Board has directed the issuance of this admonition to you. R. 1:20-15(f)(4).
The Board also directed that you transfer forthwith to the Superior Court Trust Fund any funds that remained unidentified, as provided by R. 1:21-6(j), and submit to the OAE proof that you have done so.
A permanent record of this occurrence has been filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and the Board's office. Should you become the subject of any further discipline, it will be taken into consideration.
The Board has also directed that the cost of the disciplinary proceedings be assessed against you. An invoice of costs will be forwarded under separate cover.
Very truly yours,
/s/
Isabel Frank
Acting Chief Counsel IF/jg
c: Chief Justice Stuart Rabner
Associate Justices
Bonnie C. Frost, Chair
Disciplinary Review Board (via email)
Mark Neary, Clerk
Supreme Court of New Jersey
Gail G. Haney, Deputy Clerk
Supreme Court of New Jersey (w/ethics history)
Charles Centinaro, Director
Office of Attorney Ethics
Maureen G. Bauman, Deputy Ethics Counsel
Office of Attorney Ethics