Suspension for lawyer who created fake online profile
The suspension of a Staten Island attorney who went on a lesbian dating website posing as a woman he once knew has been issued by the Appellate Division, 2nd Department.
James O’Hare went to on an online dating site for lesbians and created a false profile impersonating a woman he had previously known. According to court documents, he used both his home and work computers for this activity, aware that the fake profile would likely cause embarrassment to the woman, who was a mother of three.
O’Hare did not deny his creation of the false profile, but asserted that his actions did not violate the Rules of Professional Conduct and thus didn’t rise to the level warranting suspension. O’Hare was arrested in 2011 and plead guilty to aggravated harassment, a criminal misdemeanor, stemming from the fake web profile. He received a one-year discharge, and an order of protection was issued against him. O’Hare has since asked the Appellate Division that his discharge be lifted.
Though he had already been suspended from practicing law for over a year, in its July 17 unsigned opinion, a panel of Appellate Division, 2nd Department, judges ordered a one-year suspension for O’Hare, noting that his “conduct was highly inappropriate and adversely reflects on the legal profession.”