Stephen Brett, Esquire | SUSPENDED

New Jer­sey. Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

On this date, in the Gar­den State, the Supreme Court of New Jer­sey sus­pended lawyer Stephen M. Brett as a result of his receiv­ing pub­lic rep­ri­mands in the State of Maine and his sus­pen­sion for one year in the Com­mon­wealth of Massachusetts.

In Maine, Mr. Brett was dis­ci­plined for eaves­drop­ping on an oppos­ing party and on a judge dur­ing the medi­a­tion of a case, offer­ing a fee to a police offi­cer to solicit clients and allow­ing his client to sub­mit false tes­ti­mony with­out rec­ti­fy­ing the fraud on the tribunal.

In Mass­a­chu­setts, Mr. Brett was dis­ci­plined for assist­ing a client to vio­late the con­di­tion of his release in a crim­i­nal case, request­ing and receiv­ing money from a client he was appointed to rep­re­sent, fail­ing to appear and notify a client of his arraign­ment, mis­rep­re­sent­ing to Maine dis­ci­pli­nary author­i­ties that the court failed to give him notice of the arraign­ment, com­mu­ni­cat­ing with an oppos­ing party with­out the con­sent of coun­sel and pur­su­ing a friv­o­lous appeal.

Mr. Brett’s license to prac­tice law was sus­pended on Decem­ber 5, 2006 for a period of 12 months.

Richard J. Engel­hardt, Esquire appeared before the Dis­ci­pline Review Board for the Office of Attor­ney Ethics. Mr. Brett failed to appear.

Were any of Mr. Brett’s clients injured as a con­se­quence of his actions?  If so, are those who were injured sat­is­fied with the dis­ci­pline imposed in this case?  Has resti­tu­tion been made?

Have there been any other instances of mis­con­duct by Mr. Brett that haven’t been addressed by Office of Attor­ney Ethics?