Top court disbars lawyer for sex with client
The Pa. Supreme Court disbarred a longtime attorney who admitted a sexual relationship with a client.
A longtime Chester County attorney who admitted having a sexual relationship with a female client and engaging in improper financial dealings with her during his representation has been disbarred.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced its decision regarding attorney Jonathan F. Altman in a press release on Wednesday. The release was accompanied by a 19-page opinion and order written by Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy and joined by the other six members of the high court.
Altman’s disbarment, which means he is prohibited from representing clients in legal matters, is effective on May 22.
In her opinion, Mundy acknowledge that Altman, who has offices in West Chester and is known in the courthouse for his Edwardian beard and wingtipped shirt collars, had an otherwise blemish free record as an attorney, but said that his conduct in the matter rose above the level of a simple mistake.
Altman’s “lack of disciplinary history as well as testimony regarding his character and reputation are properly considered,” she wrote. “We conclude that such evidence cannot overcome Altman’s lack of genuine remorse and failure to appreciate the seriousness of his conflict of interest by engaging in sexual relations with his client and continuing to represent her.
Mundy’s decision that Altman was “unfit to practice law” was not based solely on his sexual relationship with (the client), she added. “Our conclusion is further impacted by Altman’s failure to ensure that (the woman’s) interests were properly protected in the course of their business dealings, and his abuse of the legal system to pursue her for expenses he could not properly document and for fees to which he was not entitled.
“Thus, it is the totality of the circumstances involving repeated instances of sexual contact, prohibited financial dealings and the filing of meritless civil actions that compels our decision to accept the previous recommendation of the state Disciplinary Board that he be disbarred.
Altman’s attorney, Sam Stretton of West Chester, expressed dismay at the court’s decision, but cautioned that it signaled that future transgressions by attorneys involving sexual relationships with client would be met with “serious consequences.”
“I was very disappointed with the court’s decision,” Stretton said in a a telephone interview Thursday. “The court seemed to change how discipline if handed out” to attorneys who engage in such conduct. “They seemed to ignore his 40 years with no disciplinary problems and his good work as a lawyer.” Stretton also implied that the court had failed to take presidential cases he presented into account in making its decision.
“But it is a strong message,” he said. “It shows that lawyers who do this sort of thing will face very, very serious consequences.”
Altman, in admitting having the intimate relationship with his former client, said that it was consensual and did not affect his representation of her. He has asked for a private reprimand, the least of all possible punishments for those attorneys found guilty of misconduct, instead of being disbarred.
In proceedings in 2018 concerning the allegations, Altman testified on his own behalf, stating that the woman — whose name is being withheld by MediaNews Group — initiated the sexual relationship and that he was in a “weakened state” and “not strong enough to resist.”
As a result of this experience, he said he had learned that, “I can’t put myself in a position where I’m alone with a female.” He further acknowledged that his misconduct in having a sexual relationship with a client was a “big mistake,” but testified that he agreed to pay for home repairs and landscaping at her house because he has a “big heart, and I help people.”
“There’s no question in my mind that (the client) trusted me as a lawyer, and I did very well by her in everything I did for her. She got exceptional results,” he testified before the Disciplinary Board’s hearing tribunal.
He has been an attorney in Pennsylvania since 1977.