Charges sustained against Rosenzweig by a referee included lying to a Jamaican official, violating rules of professional conduct and “entering into the bigamous marriage in violation of Jamaican law.”
The referee in the matter had recommended a lighter sanction based on the facts that Rosenzweig had fully cooperated with the investigation, that his misconduct was unrelated to the practice of law, and that he had no previous disciplinary record.
Rosenzweig submitted to the departmental disciplinary committee that there was no intention to enter into an illegal marriage and that the “purported marriage was not a legal union, and they had no plans to cohabit after the Jamaican ceremony.”
After the marriage, the couple returned to New York, and as observed by the referee, they had no intention to live as a married couple. The referee also noted that the marriage did not affect concerns of public policy and that “the parties to the purported marriage were in Jamaica only briefly, and there was no impact on the Jamaican citizenry.”
The reasoning of the court was that suspensions were justified in cases of “willful misrepresentation” to government officials, and the fact of Rosenzweig’s misconduct being of a personal nature, did not merit a sanction that was less severe.
Rosenzweig, a married man, was accused for having flown to Jamaica with his Jamaican mistress and married there by representing to Jamaican government officers that he was a bachelor. He argued for a public censure, but was denied, and suspended for his apparent breach of conduct.
The personal injury and real estate lawyer began his affair outside his marital bond in the mid-1990s. During their affair, at some point, the duo flew to Jamaica, and conducted an official marriage under Jamaican law. To pull off the marriage, Rosenzweig represented himself as a bachelor to a Jamaican government official.
The case is Matter of Rosenzweig, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, No. 2811-3201.
