Former Public Defender Disbarred (MORE, CLICK HERE)

By Joel Stashenko
New York Law Journal - News Watch

Washington County's former public defender has been disbarred for a range of misconduct, including failure to pay child support and the alleged conversion of more than $12,000 from an escrow account for personal expenses. The Appellate Division, Third Department, last week concluded unanimously that Joseph H. Oswald's "very serious professional misconduct . . . warrants his disbarment, especially his conversion of client funds and willful failure to obey a Family Court order."

Mr. Oswald, 52, was suspended in October on the recommendation of the Committee on Professional Standards. In April, he was ordered to spend 15 days in jail for failing to pay some $11,000 in child support. In October, he was charged with third-degree grand larceny for allegedly converting more than $12,000 in Medicaid funds for a client to his personal use. The charge is still pending.

Mr. Oswald, who was most recently in private practice in Salem, was public defender in Washington County between 2002 and 2005 and an assistant public defender for a decade before that. The court noted last week that Mr. Oswald attributed his behavior to "personal issues."

Mr. Oswald was represented by his father, Henry P. Oswald, who did not return a call for comment.