Oneida County attorney disbarred after Trump pardon

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An Oneida County attorney, who was convicted of a federal felony crime but pardoned by President Donald J. Trump, has been disbarred.

Earlier this month, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, followed through on the recommendation of the Grievance Committee of the Fifth Judicial District to disbar James Matthew Kernan.

Kernan, a Delaware Law School graduate, was admitted to practice in February 1977. He was initially suspended on an interim basis for misconduct that formed the basis of several orders of discipline issued by federal courts in 2024 and 2025.

According to the Fourth Department’s order, the Committee on Grievances of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in March 2024, found that Kernan filed several cases in the Southern District without having been admitted to practice law in that Court.

The Southern District also found that, on several occasions, Kernan made false statements to a District Court judge about his admission status.

After Kernan had an opportunity to respond to the accusations, the Southern District issued an order in June 2025 prohibiting him from practicing law before that Court.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a reciprocal order of suspension in September.

The Grievance Committee also informed the Fourth Department that, in May 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York suspended Kernan from practicing law before that Court.

Under 22 NYCRR 1240.13 (c) an attorney disciplined in another jurisdiction may be disciplined by the Fourth Department for the underlying misconduct unless the Court finds “that the procedure in the foreign jurisdiction deprived the respondent of due process of law, that there was insufficient proof that the respondent committed the misconduct, or that the imposition of discipline would be unjust.”

“In this case, we conclude that respondent’s submissions to this Court in response to the show cause order fail to raise any factor that would preclude the imposition of reciprocal discipline based on the aforementioned federal court orders,” the panel wrote.

“In determining an appropriate sanction, we have considered respondent’s submission in mitigation, including his statement that his unauthorized practice of law in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York was inadvertent and caused by confusion regarding his admission status,” the court wrote.

“We have also considered various factors in aggravation, such as respondent’s relatively extensive disciplinary history, which includes the aforementioned federal court orders and a five-year suspension imposed by this Court in 2010 based on respondent’s conviction of knowingly employing a convicted felon in the business of insurance, a federal felony,” the court wrote.

In May 2025, Kernan and his wife were granted a pardon from Trump for that conviction.

“We also agree with the Southern District’s finding that respondent has demonstrated a continued disregard for his professional obligations based on … his felony conviction, the discipline previously imposed by this Court and various federal courts, and a determination by the New York State Department of Financial Services finding that, following his conviction, respondent violated Insurance Law … inasmuch as he demonstrated untrustworthiness as a controlling person of Oriska Insurance Co.,” the court wrote.

“We conclude that respondent should be disbarred,” the panel wrote.

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