by Priscilla DeGregory at New York Post
A controversial Manhattan lawyer — who once had his license suspended for telling a tenant to “commit suicide” — has sparked a state investigation after he claimed to have given the judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial unsolicited advice.
Adam Leitman Bailey — who had his law license suspended for four months in 2019 over the caught-on-tape tirade — claimed to NBC New York that he spoke with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron about the case three weeks before the judge issued his $455 million ruling against Trump in February.
“I actually had the ability to speak to him three weeks ago,” Bailey told the outlet in a Feb. 16 interview. “I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, ‘I need to go.’ And I walked over and we started talking … I wanted him to know what I think and why … I really want him to get it right.”
The conversation sparked a probe by the New York judicial watchdog organization, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, a source told NBC New York.
A judge can’t “initiate, permit, or consider” communications about cases outside the presence of all parties in the matter.
A judge can “obtain the advice of a disinterested expert,” as long as the parties are told ahead of time and are given the chance to respond, according to the state rules on judicial conduct.
Bailey said he told Engoron his opinion on the fraud statute…
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