A New York appellate court has disbarred Yonkers attorney Michael A. Deem on several charges of professional misconduct.
Deem had claimed that local judicial grievance committee and the court had no jurisdiction over him, according to the Second Appellate Court’s March 6 opinion. Even if they did have jurisdiction, he argued, they should be disqualified for bias.
Deem depicted the decision as retaliation for disclosing corruption in the state courts.
“I consider it a badge of honor that the judges of the New York State Court System (do) not want me in their despicable and reprehensible British Accreditation Registry (BAR).”
Deem was admitted to the New York Bar in 1998. He has maintained a general law practice in Ossining, with an emphasis on civil rights and particularly Second Amendment gun rights.
This past July, the grievance committee accused him of conduct that was frivolous, had no reasonable purpose other than to harass or maliciously injure another, disregarded a rule or ruling of a tribunal, disrupted a tribunal, was prejudicial to the administration of justice, and adversely reflected on his fitness as a lawyer.
The court’s decision does not recount the underlying circumstances for which Deem was disciplined.
Deem did not respond to the charges until the grievance committee asked the court to find him in default, according to the ruling. Then he challenged the court’s authority over him.
The justices found Deem’s argument unresponsive and ruled that the charges had been established.
Deem was ordered to desist from practicing law in any form, appearing as an attorney before any court or public authority, giving others his opinion or advice as to the law, and holding himself out in any way as an attorney.
It was not Deem’s first disciplinary action.
In 2015, a federal district court judge revoked his court pass for using a cell phone to photograph an individual in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding.
In 2017, a federal disciplinary committee suspended him from the practice of law for six months.
In 2022, the Second Appellate Court suspended him for six months for not reporting the federal court suspension.
Also in 2022, he was convicted of criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to six months in jail.
The grievance committee asked the appellate court in a separate action to suspend Deem for the misdemeanor conviction. The court denied the request “as academic,” in light of its disbarment decision.
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