An attorney from Queens who was indirectly fined $380,000 after he advertised his law practice on buildings he owned through a handful of corporations had his challenge to the penalty heard Tuesday by the New York Court of Appeals, which is set to decide if the fines were justified by law.

A handful of judges on the state’s highest court appeared skeptical that the attorney, John Ciafone, could escape the fines by showing that he indirectly owned the buildings.