Attorney Judd S. Nemiro was disbarred by consent while serving an interim suspension after acknowledging a formal complaint with seven counts, as well as 19 additional Bar charges against him.
On Aug. 4, 2017, the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Arizona Supreme Court accepted Nemiro’s consent to disbarment. He was serving an interim suspension after the State Bar found sufficient evidence to support the sanction—barring him from practicing law during its continued investigation.
The Bar found that Nemiro was engaging in improper billing practices that included duplicative billing and charging unreasonable fees. He would break down casework and bill items separately, leading to higher fees than if billed as a whole. In one case, a client hearing lasted less than 30 minutes, but he charged the client for an hour at $250, as well as charged for resetting a hearing he missed. Adding to the accounting issues, Nemiro failed to maintain accurate and complete records of his trust accounts.
While serving a previous suspension for lying to the court, Nemiro failed to advise clients of the sanction and his inability to handle their cases. He was not forthcoming with the sanction, and in some cases he handed them off to his associates, but attributed the transfer of attorneys to personal time off.
During this investigation and previous reinstatement, Nemiro failed to timely comply with Bar Counsel’s request for information, as well as provided incomplete and inaccurate information.
Nemiro also engaged in artificially boosting AVVO ratings by hiring two high school students to answer consumer’s legal questions, ultimately achieving the higher rating he desired.
Judd S. Nemiro’s disbarment was effective Aug. 4, 2017. He was ordered to pay $1,759.12 for the costs and expenses associated with his disciplinary proceedings to the State Bar of Arizona.