A New York lawyer who previously practiced at K&L Gates and later was a partner at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn has been suspended from practicing law pending further disciplinary action after ignoring a subpoenaed deposition focused on allegations that he had clients pay him advance legal fees, instead of his law firm, before then ignoring the matters and refusing to repay the fees.

According to an Appellate Division, First Department opinion immediately suspending Justin A. Greenblum, the lawyer allegedly collected some $73,000 in advance legal fees from various clients and then ignored repeated requests that he refund the fees to them. (The First Department did not specify at which firm Greenblum was working when the alleged wrongdoing occurred, but the timing of when the clients lodged grievance committee complaints and a look at Greenblum’s professional biography suggests that it was during his seven-year stretch as a Carter Ledyard partner handling high-level commercial litigation.)