By The Ethics Reporter

When an attorney walks into a courtroom, they operate under the assumption that the judge is bound by the same rulebook they are: the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). But Rockland County Acting Supreme Court Justice David Fried has made it clear that when his ego is bruised, the CPLR is merely a suggestion.

In Adler v. Pollak, David Fried weaponized CPLR § 6514(c) to issue an "award of costs" against a plaintiff's attorney, masking what was effectively a retaliatory sanction. By classifying his financial penalty as "costs" rather than a sanction under 22 NYCRR 130-1.1, Fried deliberately bypassed the mandatory due process protections that require a judge to issue an Order to Show Cause (OSC) before penalizing an attorney.

This is not a mere procedural oversight. It is a calculated subversion of New York legal procedure. An OSC is designed to give attorneys a chance to defend themselves on the record. By circumventing it, David Fried acted as a dictator rather than an impartial jurist. He denied the attorney her right to be heard, all while using his judicial order to publicly defame her.

When a judge like David Fried intentionally manipulates the CPLR to exact personal revenge, it sends a chilling message to every lawyer practicing in New York: your procedural rights only exist if the judge likes you. If you file a bar complaint or dare to "create a record," David Fried will twist the law to punish you without a trial.

In Part 7, we will explore the broader impact of David Fried’s judicial tyranny on the legal profession in Rockland County.