2nd Cir. Bans Lawyer for 'Indifference' to Client Rights & Professional Obligations
A New York immigration lawyer has been barred from appearing again before the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to missed deadlines that resulted in the dismissal of at least 12 cases and and substandard briefs.
“We want to make it clear that the deficiencies of [Karen] Jaffe’s conduct, in the aggregate, bespeak of something far more serious than a lack of competence or ability. They exhibit an indifference to the rights and legal well-being of her clients, and to her professional obligations, including the obligation of candor, to this court,” states a per curiam written opinion of the circuit’s 10 active judges. It imposes the practice ban by striking her from the circuit’s roster of authorized attorneys, reports the New York Law Journal in an article that is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
One reviewing panel described Jaffe’s briefing skills as “abysmal,” the legal publication notes.
However, Jaffe, who is a 13-year practitioner based in Manhattan, told the New York Law Journal that she has won relief for 85 percent of her clients. In grievance proceedings, she said she has not been actively practicing in the 2nd Circuit since 2006, but continues to work in other courts.
