NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A former associate at
Cravath Swaine & Moore who spent six months in jail for
assaulting his girlfriend has been suspended from practicing law
for three years by a New York appeals court.
On Thursday, the Appellate Division, First Department,
suspended Michael Zulandt for violating state attorney-ethics
rules in connection with Zulandt's 2008 plea of third-degree
assault. Zulandt was convicted of slapping and pushing his
girlfriend, calling her derogatory names, smashing her Cartier
watch with a hammer and puncturing a painting. He was sentenced
to 10 months of incarceration and ordered to pay about $8,300 in
restitution. He was released in June 2009 after six months in
jail.
In its decision, the court found that Zulandt violated
ethics rules that prohibit lawyers from behaving in a way that
reflects poorly on the trustworthiness, fitness and honesty of
lawyers.
Zulandt, who was admitted to practice in 2006, was an
associate at Cravath following admission, according to Westlaw,
although the timing of his departure is unclear. A Cravath
spokeswoman declined to comment.
James Keneally, a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren who
represented Zulandt, also declined to comment. Zulandt could not
be reached for comment.
At Zulandt's disciplinary hearing in 2011, a psychotherapist
testified on his behalf that he had an "intermittent explosive
disorder" for which he was being treated.
The First Department Disciplinary Committee, which
investigates complaints against lawyers, had sought a one-year
suspension, but the hearing panel determined that a 60-day
suspension was appropriate.
Thursday's decision affirmed the hearing panel's findings of
fact, but ordered a three-year suspension for Zulandt. "We are
persuaded that respondent engaged in a calculated pattern of
cruelty that was not the product of the intermittent explosive
disorder described by his expert," the court wrote.
The court also wrote that Zulandt had admitted a "prior
episode of such conduct" in which "he admitted that he pushed
(his girlfriend) to the ground."
The case is Matter of Zulandt, Supreme Court, Appellate
Division, First Department, No. 00917.
For the Departmental Disciplinary Committee: Junn Hwa Lee,
New York.
For Zulandt: James Keneally, of Kelley, Drye & Warren, New
York.
(Reporting by Leigh Jones)
Follow us on Twitter: @ReutersLegal