Opinion
Docket No. DRB 13-386
03-26-2014
Re: In the Matter of Stephen Schnitzer
BONNIE C. FROST, ESQ., CHAIR EDNA Y. BAOGH, 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
BONNIE C. FROST, ESQ., CHAIR
EDNA Y. BAOGH, 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 VIA CERTIFIED MAIL , R.R.R. & REGULAR MAIL Stephen Schnitzer, Esq.
REDACTED - CONFIDENTIAL District Docket No. XIV-2013-0303E
LETTER OF ADMONITION Dear Mr. Schnitzer:
The Disciplinary Review Board has reviewed your conduct in the above matter and has concluded that it was improper. Following a review of the record, the Board determined to impose an admonition.
Specifically, during a random audit of your attorney books and records, the Office of Attorney Ethics auditor noted various deficiencies in your recordkeeping and also noted that you had disbursed $248,203.99 to yourself by way of a trust account check. The auditor was satisfied that the sum you disbursed represented earned legal fees. By leaving the earned fees in your trust account from as far back as 1995 and through April 2012, you improperly commingled trust and personal funds. Your conduct was unethical and in violation of RPC 1.15(a) and RPC 1.15(d).
The Board was aware that you received an admonition, in 2001. The Board noted, however, that it arose out of unrelated conduct and that, therefore, the present violations did not evidence a failure to learn from prior, similar mistakes. The Board found that your forty-six years at the bar, unblemished but for the 2001 admonition, allowed for the imposition of only an admonition in this matter.
Your conduct has 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).
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 costs 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/paa c: Chief Justice Stuart Rabner
Associate Justices
Bonnie C. Frost, Chair Disciplinary Review Board
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