The New York Law Journal reports that Kenneth Schneider was sentenced to 15 years behind bars by a Pennsylvania federal judge in December for ‘travelling in interstate commerce’ for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor. Schneider had been based at the firm's Moscow when it opened in 1998.

Possible appeal

As the charge had no equivalent in state law, disbarment was not automatically enforced. But now a panel of New York’s appellate division has directed that an immediate suspension is required for the ‘serious crime’. Schneider was ordered to appear before a hearing panel within 90 days of his release from prison, where an appropriate sanction for his actions will be considered.
Amy Adelson -- Schneider’s lawyer and a partner at New York firm Dershowitz Eiger & Adelson -- said her client is appealing his conviction to the US Court of Appeals. ‘If the appeal is successful, which we hope and expect, then there is a process for lifting the suspension,’ she commented.

Ms Adelson said her client continues to assert his innocence.