According to a decision handed down Thursday by the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, the attorney for the Village of Cobleskill will be temporarily suspended for practicing law for about three months.
Cheryl Parsons Reul of Sharon Springs runs a private practice there and also serves as attorney for the Village of Cobleskill.
According to the Appellate decision, in 2004, Ms. Parsons was suspended for two years for “various admitted violations of the rules governing the proper maintenance of attorney escrow accounts, including issuing checks against insufficient funds from her escrow account.”
That suspension was stayed with conditions, one of them requiring Ms. Ruel to submit quarterly reports confirming that she was properly maintaining her new escrow account.
The New York Committee on Professional Standards, which investigates complaints against attorneys, has applied to have Ms. Reul’s suspension reactivated three times since it was stayed—requests the Appellate Division denied.
In January, however, the Committee of Professional Standards asked for a fourth time to have Ms. Reul’s suspension reactivated, claiming she again issued checks from her escrow account without the deposits to cover them—once within two weeks of the Appellate Division’s June 2010 decision and admonishment.
“…considering the history of the respondent’s escrow missteps since her stayed suspension in 2004, we grant the petitioner’s motion and vacate the stat of respondent’s suspension,” the Appellate decision concluded.
Effective 20 days from the February 17 decision, Ms. Ruel is suspended from practicing law until June 17, 2011.