The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has censured Acting Supreme Court Justice Diane A. Lebedeff “for presiding over a case in which she had a ‘significant social and professional relationship’ with the plaintiff, attorney Ravi Batra”. The case in question was none other than the one described in our Nov. 11, 2003 entry, in which Batra, a noted judicial kingmaker in city politics, was demanding $80 million in damages for a fall off a swivel chair in his office, eventually settling with the furniture store for $225,000. Reports the New York Law Journal:
One of the aggravating factors the commission’s unanimous decision pointed to was that during the five years Lebedeff handled Batra’s case, she excused the defense lawyers on approximately five occasions, saying she wanted to “engage in ‘gossip’ or other social conversation not related to the case, with Mr. Batra.”
…Batra said, “The fact that the judge and I were friendly is a stipulated fact in the determination and was contemporaneously known to defense counsel, who never objected.”
An attorney with Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman & Mackauf, representing the judge, “said that Lebedeff accepts the censure because she recognizes that there was an appearance of impropriety. He stressed, however, that there was no claim that any of her actions were improper.” (Daniel Wise, “Presiding Over Friend’s Trial Results in Censure”, New York Law Journal, Apr. 11). Norm Pattis (Apr. 12) finds defense mistakes in part to blame.
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