TRENTON - A former South Jersey attorney has been disbarred after a disciplinary panel called her "a detriment to the profession."
The state Supreme Court ordered the action against Stephanie Julia Brown, who formerly practiced in Sewell, after reviewing a 97-page report on seven complaints against her.
The report, prepared by the court's Disciplinary Review Board, asserted Brown "either refuses to provide, or is incapable of providing, her clients with even a rudimentary level of competent representation."
It also said Brown "has demonstrated a dangerous habit of undertaking the representation of vulnerable clients and utterly failing them, in some cases to their detriment, and lying to them."
And the report claimed Brown, who did not respond to the ethics charges against her in New Jersey, had "a long history of snubbing courts (and) disciplinary authorities."
Brown could not be reached for comment on the high court's Sept. 28 order.
The disciplinary board recommended disbarment for Brown, who received a law license in New Jersey in 2006 and in Pennsylvania two years earlier.
It noted she had been suspended from the practice of law in New Jersey since April 2019, and was previously disciplined in Pennsylvania.
Most of the allegations against Brown arose from the representation of clients seeking representation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the report said.
An account of one complaint noted a client's multiple efforts to obtain basic information about her bankruptcy filing.
"This was beyond dropping the ball," the client, Nicole Ferrara, wrote about Brown's performance in a letter cited by the report. "She lied about having my work completed and was unresponsive from the beginning."
Among other points, it said Brown failed to tell Ferrara that her bankruptcy action would allow her to recover a car that had been repossessed. She also incorrectly advised Ferrara to turn down a job, mistakenly saying the salary would exceed a level allowed under the bankruptcy filing.
One ethics complaint arose from Brown's guilty plea in March 2019 to charges of driving while intoxicated and driving during a license suspension for a previous DWI conviction.
The complaint alleged the conviction reflected "adversely" on Brown's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.
"We are not unmindful of what appears to be (Brown's) serious substance abuse issue involving alcohol," said the report;
But it also noted "her inability or refusal to address this issue," as well as "the adverse consequences suffered by multiple clients … and her contemptuous conduct toward the courts."
As
a result of those findings, the board said, "We reach the conclusion
that she must be removed from the practice of law in order to protect
the public and preserve confidence in the bar."
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