A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a disbarred attorney cannot sue the law firm that once represented him for malpractice or breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a fee dispute.

Appellate Division Judges Richard Hoffman and Karen Suter, in an unpublished opinion, upheld a decision from the Essex County Superior Court dismissing the lawsuit filed by the disbarred lawyer, Andrew Schildiner, against the firm he hired, the Toscano Law Firm in Caldwell, and its head partner, Patrick Toscano Jr.