In my initial article, I pointed out that the "Brooklyn" attorney Daniel Jennings Goldstein is not licensed to practice law in New York.
A reader Jerry B from Arizona gave me a tip that Daniel Jennings Goldstein is registered in California State Bar:
The California State Bar reports that attorney Daniel Jennings Goldstein, of Brooklyn, NY, was admitted to practice law in the State of California in 2002, was relegated to an inactive status in 2012, but is eligible to become active. As of today, he is listed as "inactive status", meaning that at this time he is not admitted to practice law in California.
A reader "Loo Chee" with a restricted profile
reacted with a tip and pointed out to me the existence of a profile on LinkedIn of attorney "Dan Goldstein" (no middle name) who works for the federal government, in the Labor Relations Department.
While a LinkedIn profile with no middle name is not a positive ID for the same attorney, since reader Loo Chee's opinion was supported by a comment from an "Unknown" reader
who stated the following:
and since this opinion appear to be at cross-points with New York law, I decided to run an update article.
The "Unknown" reader did not point out what are the rules of D.C. bar regarding in-house counsel.
Moreover, that he or she was never prosecuted by the D.C. bar does not mean that he or she did not violate the rule of practice.
And, a policy of a federal agency may well run afoul of the local state law, so I would not rely on it without extra verification of the state law.
In New York, where attorney Daniel Jennings Goldstein lives, there are rules for licensing of attorneys who practice law in the state, and rules of "registration" for in-house counsel existing since April 20, 2011:
Since Daniel Goldstein resides in Brooklyn, NY and claims to be a lawyer from Brooklyn, NY, he may be working in New York. The U.S. Labor Department is a "legal entity", and "is not itself engaged in the practice of law or the rendering of legal services outside such organization".
So, even if Daniel Jennings Goldstein may not have to be admitted to practice law in New York, IF his employment answers 22 NYCRR 522, he must, under New York law, nevertheless register as an "in-house counsel" of the U.S. Labor Department.
I checked whether he is so registered.
He is not, with or without a middle name.
So, once again, I do not know whether attorney Daniel Jennings Goldstein was at the time of the incident with Ivanka Trump, or is now working for the U.S. Labor Department - if he works while living in New York, New York law appears to require him to either get admitted to practice law, and I found no registration information on him as an admitted attorney, the list of "Daniel Goldsteins" admitted to practice in New York, as of today, is the same as when I initially research the case in December of 2016,
or at least register as an in-house counsel - which he did not do either.
I found no exemptions in New York law for attorneys employed by federal agencies to work within the state without a full license to practice, or without a registration as an "in-house counsel".
If any readers know of such laws, I welcome that information, which I will also research and publish.
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ReplyDeleteTatiana,
ReplyDeleteI posted as unknown before because I couldn't get the blog to list my name. The rule you speak of doesn't apply to federal government attorneys. They are not the same as "in-house counsel", the rule you speak of applies to corporations and non-profits, not federal agencies. Again, if you are an attorney for the federal government, you just need to have the bar from a state, DC or another territory (i.e. Puerto Rico), but where you physically work for the federal government does not matter. When I worked for the IRS in DC, I did not run afoul of DC bar rules. Believe me, I would have been dismissed from my job pretty quickly if I did. I knew attorneys licensed in many different jurisdictions all over the country working at the IRS and other federal agencies, but NOT licensed in DC or whatever state the federal agency was located. The "in-house rule" you speak of does NOT apply to federal agencies and never has. You can be licensed in Guam and work as a lawyer at any federal agency, anywhere in the country, it doesn't matter and you will NOT have to register with the bar of the state you are working for that federal agency. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the Linkedin profile showing the attorney at the US Mint is the correct Dan Goldstein and he is NOT required to register with the New York bar. There is no mystery here and Dan Goldstein isn't breaking any state bar rules as far as I know. Not defending his conduct on the JetBlue flight, of course, that was about as low-class and rude as it gets, but I am certain he is a federal government attorney who will not be in trouble with the New York bar anytime soon.
Mr. Johnson, please, provide the names of and links to statutes, regulations and/or policies that would confirm your opinion. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI guess, there is no statute, regulation or policy to cite for the claim that an attorney working for the federal government does not have to be licensed or even registered as an in-house counsel in the state where he or she is practicing. And, I do not take as legal basis opinions from strangers that "we do it this way in our neck of woods". That is not what the rule of law is.
ReplyDeleteTatiana,
ReplyDeleteI've explained as best I could, so believe what you want to believe. I'm not a federal attorney anymore, having gotten married and had a kid I had to go to the private sector, where I am licensed to practice in the state I practice now, so I don't readily know the statute, regulation or policy. What I can say is that the Linkedin profile sent before is probably the correct Dan Goldstein; if he's running afoul of New York State bar rules, then I guess you've just exposed him.