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	Court Declines to Hear Clergy-abuse Lawyer's Suspension Appeal By Joel Stashenko The National Law Journal January 29, 2009 http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202427822210 The New York Court of Appeals has declined to hear the appeal of attorney John A. Aretakis' one-year suspension for engaging in "undignified and discourteous conduct" toward courts. Without elaboration, the court denied Aretakis' motions for an automatic appeal of an Appellate Division, 3rd Department, ruling upholding his recommended suspension on the grounds that there is no substantial constitutional question to review. The judges also denied his motion for leave to appeal. Aretakis, who practices in Manhattan and Albany, was found by the 3rd Department's Committee on Professional Standards to have committed misconduct after being sanctioned by four courts between 2005 and 2008, mostly involving sexual abuse cases against Roman Catholic priests. The panel also found he violated a broader charge of making false accusations against judges, making false statements of law and fact and for asserting "positions which served to harass and maliciously injure." Aretakis continued Monday to contend that he is being punished for representing alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse and for attacking dioceses he contends have covered it up. "This is target practice on a lawyer because I have been involved in a controversial area of law," he said in an interview. "To me, it's a clear injustice." He said he is continuing to file papers in a federal action he initiated in November in the Southern District of New York, Aretakis v. Committee on Professional Standards, 1:08-vb-09712, in which he is challenging the constitutionality of the Code of Professional Responsibility as interpreted by the 3rd Department disciplinary committee.
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