Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani attends a ceremony in Zucotti Park, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, on the 19th Anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York, NY, Sept. 11, 2020, (Anthony Behar/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred and can no longer practice law in the State of New York.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department disbarred the former New York City mayor over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in favor of his longtime friend and then-client Donald Trump.
The decision puts an ignominious cap on Giuliani’s long and storied legal career in the Empire State — during which the since-disgraced lawyer served as the head of the nation’s most respected, and often most feared, U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
Giuliani was first admitted to the New York bar in June 1969.
“While no prior disciplinary cases involving intentionally made false statements are remotely comparable to this case, the case is still consistent with prior precedent of disbarment in cases where the attorneys engaged in a pattern of misconduct that included intentional misrepresentation and dishonesty,” the appeals court says in its order.
Disciplinary proceedings against Giuliani began soon after a series of highly public lies about widespread, organized electoral fraud tipping the 2020 election to President Joe Biden in Pennsylvania.
The appeals court describes the sum of the bar complaints as allegations that Giuliani “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer” for Trump and Trump’s 2020 campaign.
By June 2021, Giuliani’s law license was suspended.
Proceedings moved at a glacial pace but in February 2023, the state’s Attorney Grievance Committee followed up on the complaints and served Giuliani with 20 formal charges “based on the misconduct underlying his interim suspension,” according to the appellate court.
Giuliani responded to the charges and the grievance committee moved to have the charges sustained. In July 2023, the parties entered a joint stipulation on various facts — where they outlined their agreements and disagreements. The court then appointed a so-called third-party “referee” to “conduct a hearing on the charges and to file a report making findings of fact and conclusions of law, and recommending such discipline, if any, as may be appropriate.”
Ultimately, 16 of the 20 charges were sustained by the referee.
As a result, the grievance committee moved for disbarment.
The court explained their reasoning for affirming the sanction:
The seriousness of respondent’s misconduct cannot be overstated. Respondent flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign, through which respondent repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public, the [attorney grievance committee], and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process. In so doing, respondent not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant. The aggravation cited by the Referee, which includes respondent’s disruptive and disrespectful behavior during the hearing, significantly outweighs the mitigation and only adds to the case for his disbarment.
“Rudolph W. Giuliani, admitted as Rudolph William Giuliani, is disbarred from the practice of law, effective immediately, and until the further order of this Court, and his name stricken from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law in the State of New York,” the court order says.
A spokesperson for the man formerly known throughout the five boroughs as hizzoner chastised the court for its ruling.
“Members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country should immediately come forward and speak out against this politically and ideologically corrupted decision,” Ted Goodman said. “We will be appealing this objectively flawed decision in hopes that the appellate process will restore integrity into our system of justice.”
The court’s order is available here.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
