The state Second Appellate Court has suspended Greenburgh attorney Sophia Annmarie Rutty from practicing law for three years for misappropriating money from an estate.
The panel of five justices found that Rutty violated 13 charges of professional misconduct, in an Aug. 4 ruling, in her handling of the estate of Marie Rosela St. Martin.
Rutty began practicing law in 2000.
In 2010, Regine Bruny hired her to handle the St. Martin estate, and turned over $25,000 to be held in an escrow account. Rutty deposited the check at Hudson Valley Bank and withdrew $1,500 for legal fees.
She agreed to hold the remaining $23,500 until surrogate court issued an administrative document to Bruny.
By July 2011, the account was down to $177.31, according to the appellate court ruling, and by mid-2014 it held only $4.83.
Bruny was authorized to administer the St. Martin estate, and in 2017 she asked Rutty to finalize the estate and release the funds to her.
Despite multiple requests, the justices found, Rutty held the funds for another nine months, until late 2017 after Bruny complained to the state grievance committee.
The grievance committee found that Rutty withdrew money to pay for personal or operating expenses, deposited cash into the account without identifying the client, and failed to keep account records.
Rutty claimed that she had placed the estate funds in a client subaccount, separate from her escrow account, but the grievance committee found no supporting evidence.
The grievance committee charged Rutty with misappropriating client funds, failure to promptly disburse funds, failure to account for funds, failure to maintain records, breach of fiduciary duty and other charges.
Rutty denied the charges.
The appellate court had initially suspended her from practicing law in January 2020, “based on uncontroverted evidence of … misappropriation of client funds,” and referred the matter to a referee, Kevin J. Plunkett, for a hearing and report.
Plunkett reported that Rutty’s explanations were “devoid of substance” and “effectively obstructed the progress of the investigation and evaluation of her conduct.”
Plunkett upheld the charges, and on Aug. 4 the appellate justices agreed with his decision.
Rutty “did not put forth credible evidence” of mitigation, the appellate court ruled.
The justices suspended her for three years, without credit for the 20 months she had already been suspended.
The appellate panel was composed of presiding Justice Hector D. LaSalle and Justices Mark C. Dillon, William F. Mastro, Robert J. Miller and Reinaldo E. Rivera.
