In a recent development, a veteran New York criminal defense attorney, Scott L. Fenstermaker, has avoided disbarment but received a three-year suspension in Maine. This decision comes after a Maine Superior Court justice rejected the Board of Bar Overseers’ recommendation for stricter penalties. Justice Thomas R. McKeon noted, “On some level, Fenstermaker clearly cared for his clients and thought that what he was doing was advancing their cause,” which influenced the court’s decision not to opt for disbarment.
Fenstermaker, a Harvard Law School graduate with over three decades of legal experience, expanded his practice from New York to Maine in May 2022. However, his tenure in Maine was short-lived. Within months, he faced an interim suspension due to various allegations, including filing frivolous motions, belittling other attorneys, and making reckless statements about judges.
For more details, the full context of the case has been discussed in a
recent article.