Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Bronx Surrogate Judge Lee Holzman keeps his job despite breaking the rules


In one of the worst rulings in its history, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct decreed that a judge may stay on the bench despite giving a pass to a lawyer friend who’d grabbed hundreds of thousand of dollars in excessive fees from the estates of the dead.

The panel let Bronx Surrogate Judge Lee Holzman off with merely a censure, rather than order his removal from the bench, sympathetically citing his impending retirement.

As surrogate judge, Holzman presided over the disposition of estates. His employees include a counsel whose duties center on cases in which people have died without leaving a will. For compensation, the counsel draws money from the estates according to percentage formulas set by law.

When Holzman’s counsel, Michael Lippman, got caught taking far larger amounts than he was entitled to, Holzman kept him on the job. That way, Lippman was supposed to earn more fees so he could repay the filched funds.

Full Article and Source:
Bronx Surrogate Judge Lee Holzman keeps his job despite breaking the rules

6 comments:

StandUp said...

Outrageous! The Commission on Judicial Conduct sends a message loud and clear: We care more about our own than justice!

Steve said...

When people wonder what's wrong with this country, this article is a good response.

Illinois member said...

And I thought Illlinois was bad!

Finny said...

Everyone on the NY Commisison on Judicial Conduct should now be sanctioned.

Corey said...

Judge Lee Holzman makes all judges look bad. Those who let him get by it look even worse. Shame on all of them.

Barbara said...

And this is why they call it "the incest" club!