Before joining Anderson Kill, judge was accused of rude behavior on bench, retaliatory threats in ethics case

"A former New York judge who joined Anderson Kill last month told Law360 that he made the move because of family considerations and a looming mandatory retirement when he turns 70 years old in a few years. But former Judge Louis L. Nock did not mention that he joined the law firm on the same day that New York ethics regulators agreed to drop ethics charges against him in return for his agreement to resign from the bench and never accept judicial office again,"

"According to a Sept. 25 press release, written ethics complaints had alleged that Nock: * Often acted in a rude, demeaning and otherwise unprofessional manner toward court staff. * Threatened to file attorney grievance complaints against conduct commission staff and witnesses and to file a criminal complaint against another witness, unless the charges against him were dismissed."

Louis L. Nock joined Anderson Kill after resigning from the New York bench with an agreement that ethics charges would be dropped in exchange for his resignation and a lifetime bar from judicial office. Ethics complaints alleged repeated rude, demeaning and unprofessional conduct toward court staff and threats to file attorney grievance and criminal complaints against commission staff and witnesses unless charges were dismissed. Nock denied the allegations but agreed to resign after motions to dismiss the complaints were denied. Anderson Kill stated that Nock disclosed the allegations before hiring and that there was no finding of wrongdoing.

Read at ABA Journal