Zenas Zelotes, a Connecticut lawyer who had an intimate relationship with a client, has been suspended from the practice of law for five months. Superior Court Judge Frank D'Andrea Jr. handed down the decision June 28, noting that the suspension must begin August 1. Zelotes, a bankruptcy lawyer, said the suspension of his state bar license will not immediately affect him because he practices in federal court. "The decision is purely academic in application and effect," he said. "Only a federal judge can enjoin my federal law license...It's business as usual." Zelotes said that when reciprocal disciplinary action is taken in federal court, he will fight for his constitutional right to associate with whom he pleases. "We have our right to exercise our First Amendment rights," he said. "Every attorney should be concerned about this [ruling]. What it says is, we can punish you for anything we want " The case stemmed from Zelotes' relationship with a Connecticut couple who he met at a jazz bar in New London in 2010. Zelotes and his girlfriend exchanged phone numbers with the couple and then began seeing them socially. Eventually, Zelotes began seeing the woman, Terry Aliano, alone, and acknowledged having an intimate relationship with her. Zelotes then encouraged the woman to divorce her husband, the judge stated. "He believed he had an obligation to help her proceed with her divorce, and promote her welfare, and make her a happier person," Judge D'Andrea stated in his decision. Aliano's husband filed a motion, that was later granted, to disqualify Zelotes from representing his wife in the divorce case. After he was disqualified, Zelotes and Aliano stopped their relationship, according to the judge's decision. The judge states that Zelotes "knowingly injected himself into the personal life of Terry Aliano, and into the marital status of her husband, Michael Aliano. He became more than her friend, but developed an 'intimate' relationship with her and they began to 'date.'" The judge states that Connecticut lawyers and the general public would regard his conduct as "appalling and would thoroughly disapprove."
Nationwide Grievance Zelotes is no stranger to controversy. In 2010, he was in the news for filing ethics complaints against more than 500 lawyers nationwide who paid a Chicago-based bankruptcy website,
Total Attorneys, for client leads. Those complaints were eventually dismissed. He also was an outspoken opponent of a federal law that bars lawyers from counseling clients who are filing for bankruptcy to take on more debt.
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