Scenes From A Marriage

The New Jersey Supreme Court has imposed a one-year suspension with fitness of an attorney who had previously been censured for domestic violence. The case involves a second instance of such conduct. According to the report of the Disciplinary Review Board:

Although the end of a marriage is not something to hail, we are encouraged that [the attorney] has ceased all contact with [his wife], which, in his words, "ensures that the conduct will not recur." Nevertheless, we are faced with the reality that he has engaged in this "conduct," not once, but twice.

In sum, the fact that this is the second time that [he] has beaten up his wife, the brutality of the offense, including his threat to kill her, the lengthy prison sentence imposed on [him] for the attack, and the absence of compelling mitigating factors, we determine to impose a one-year suspension...

The attorney had served as corporate counsel to AT&T.

The DRB report found that the attorney's treatment for "intermittent explosive disorder" was a mitigating factor but that his wife's alleged alcoholism was not. The crime took place after the wife had poured ice cubes on his head to "cool him down."

 (Mike Frisch)