Bay Ridge Lawyers get a crash course in ethics

January 28, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Gregory T. Cerchione fulfilled a promise he made to Grace Borrino many years ago by giving a lecture on ethics at a Bay Ridge Lawyers Association CLE meeting. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

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The Bay Ridge Lawyers Association (BRLA) hosted attorney Gregory T. Cerchione for a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar titled “Ethics for the Practicing Lawyer” at Hunter’s Steak and Ale House on Fourth Avenue Wednesday night.

The meeting was a long time coming for BRLA President Grace M. Borrino.

“Years ago, when I joined the association, I remember Greg Cerchione doing an ethics lecture, and I said that when I’m president, I’m getting him back here to speak, and he did not disappoint,” Borrino said. “He’s a very well-respected lawyer with so much experience and knowledge. His speech was excellent and we were lucky to have him.”

Cerchione is a past president of the Brooklyn Bar Association (BBA), the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Brooklyn and the Columbian Lawyers Association of Brooklyn. He has also held the position of chair of the BBA’s Grievance Committee since 2000.

“I have to be honest with you, there is not a single one of you that needs ethics,” Cerchione said. “Some of you need ethics credits, but you certainly don’t need ethics. I’m sitting in the presence of some of the finest lawyers that practice in the state — RoseAnn Branda and Mark Caruso — so a lot of this I’m preaching to the choir.”

During the lecture, Cerchione explained how and why lawyers come under scrutiny of the Disciplinary Committee. He explained that the single biggest reason lawyers are suspended or disbarred is due to violations with their escrow accounts.

“That’s not to make light of the other issues, but to highlight that the escrow is the DUI where we can lose our license and have our issues,” said Cerchione, who estimated that 80 percent of suspensions and disbarments are escrow related.

“Everything else — the neglects, the failure to communicate, the conflicts of interest — those are the aggressive driving, that’s the stop sign, the red lights. Of course, too many of those and then you have the suspension or disbarment.”

Cerchione also said that most complaints arise from lawyers who make innocent mistakes with their escrow accounts, and that it is imperative that they understand technical conversion and commingling of funds to avoid problems. He then described practical ways to avoid common mistakes.

Primarily, Cerchione stressed that lawyers need to respond to complaints as soon as they receive them, as failure to do so often turns a small problem into a big one.

The CLE session took place just one day before the BRLA headed off to the Tropicana in Atlantic City for its annual winter seminar. The two-day event will feature a list of speakers including Hon. Catherine M. Didomenico, Hon. Vincent Del Giudice, Mark J. Caruso, John A. Bonina Jr., Mario Romano and others. It’s next monthly CLE meeting will be held on Feb. 24 at Hunter’s. Thomas Tafuri is the guest speaker for that event.