A husband-wife legal team in South Salem has been disbarred for professional misconduct, but one of them says it is the attorney grievance committee that is acting unprofessionally.
A panel of five judges of the Second Appellate Division issued default decisions on April 27 against Margarita and Samuel Rubin for failure to respond to charges brought against them.
The attorney grievance committee for the Ninth Judicial District had accused Margarita Rubin of 14 charges of professional misconduct in March 2020 and Samuel Rubin of two charges of misconduct in December 2020.
The grievance committee served papers on Dec. 6, according to the appellate court, notifying the couple that the committee was seeking default judgments against them for not responding to charges.
But Samuel Rubin was a patient at Westchester Medical Center preparing for a possible heart-kidney transplant, Margarita Rubin said in a telephone interview, and he could not have seen the papers.
She claims she did not know about the papers until a reporter sent her the court’s decisions and asked for her side of the story.
“I’m sure if I saw the papers I would have done something,” she said. “For a committee that is supposed to be about professionalism,” she added, “I don’t think this was fair.”
The grievance committee accused Margarita Rubin of failure to diligently pursue legal matters, engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and engaging in conduct that adversely reflects on her fitness as a lawyer.
Samuel Rubin was accused of engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and failure to render appropriate accounts to a client or third party.
The appellate court decisions provide no details about the alleged wrongdoing.
Margarita Rubin claims that Samuel was charged for not complying with a subpoena. But he was unable to respond, she said, because he was already severely ill and in the hospital.
She said the charges against her are based on allegations by a disgruntled client and have no merit.
“It’s the reality of being an attorney,” she said. “If you practice enough and have enough clients, it’s inevitable.”
A Manhattan Supreme Court record provides possible clues about professional misconduct.
In 2019, a former client accused Margarita Rubin of demanding and receiving a $10,000 payment to file a motion in a real estate dispute. She failed to file the motion, according to court records, and refused to pay back the money.
The client also claimed that she had been arrested on drug charges in 2017 but does not state the outcome of the case.
In 2020, a Westchester Supreme Court judge ordered the Rubins to pay $6,000 for not returning Labradoodle puppies to a breeder with whom they had a dog fostering arrangement.
Margarita Rubin said she intends to file a motion asking the court to pause enforcement of the disbarments so that she and her husband can respond to the charges.
She said she wishes that the grievance committee had handled their disciplinary proceedings more compassionately.
They knew her husband was ill, she said and that they are dealing with a bad situation.
“My husband is actually dying,” she said. “He has six months to live. If he doesn’t get the transplant, he’s not going to make it.”
