Lewis Lubell Admonished

Lewis J. Lubell, a New York State Supreme Court justice in Westchester County, was publicly admonished by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct after admitting to ex parte communications on behalf of a friend involved in a pending matrimonial case. After speaking with his friend, Mitchell P. Lieberman, about Lieberman's divorce case, Lubell contacted the judge actually presiding over that case, Judge Thomas Quinones, and gave him advice on an issue Lieberman had raised — a conversation that occurred outside the presence of the other party, in violation of judicial conduct rules barring ex parte communications about pending proceedings. About a month later, Lubell had a second improper conversation with Quinones about the same case, asking whether Quinones had considered firing his court attorney over the issue Lieberman had raised. Lubell agreed to the admonition, acknowledging his conduct violated judicial ethics rules.