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Judge Diane Lebedeff of Queens, NY; ethically in arrears, certified moron  
Unfortunately for the citizens of Queens, New York, Judge Diane Lebedeff has been sitting on the bench since 1983. Given her obvious ethical shortcomings, Judge Lebedeff has made repeated visits to the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree. Those repeated visits are set forth below.
1st bite at the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree
Beginning in 1980, Judge Lebedeff hired her longtime friend Ms. Alice Krause to prepare her annual tax returns. From 1980 through 1996 Judge Lebedeff promptly paid Ms. Krause for her tax services.
In Dec. 1993, Judge Lebedeff appointed Ms. Krause as the guardian for Ms. Miriam Seborer because she was incapacitated. Judge Lebedeff approved a fee of $16,500 to Ms. Krause in the Seborer matter.
Subsequently, Judge Lebedeff appointed Ms. Krause as a guardian in several other matters, all of which resulted in Lebedeff awarding thousands in fees to Ms. Krause.
In July 2001, the Judicial Commission questioned Ms. Krause about her relationship with Judge Lebedeff and the fact that she hadn’t invoiced Lebedeff for preparing her tax returns for the years, 1996, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Shortly thereafter, she billed Judge Lebedeff.
It was only after Ms. Krause was questioned by the Judicial Commission about her relationship with Judge Lebedeff in regards to the fact she never invoiced Lebedeff for the years 1995-1998 for preparing her tax returns.
Obviously, there was an inherent conflict of interest for Judge Lebedeff to appoint her persona friend and tax preparer as a guardian and then award her tens of thousands in fees. In fact its fairly obvious that was an unethical if not unlawful case of “quid pro quo.”
For this misconduct, the Judicial Commission gifted Judge Lebedeff with a complimentary censure.
2nd bite at the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree
In March 2005, the Judicial Commission gifted Judge Diane Lebedeff with yet another complimentary censure for engaging in the misconduct addressed below.
A so-called attorney named Ravi Batra was a close friend of Judge Lebedeff since the late 1980s. In fact they consistently visited each others homes, and went on at least one joint family outing.
In 1994, attorney Ravi Batra filed an $80 million lawsuit against a Brooklyn furniture store, which was assigned to Judge Lebedeff. In fact, she sat on the case for at least six years.
In his $80,000 million lawsuit, Mr. Batra claimed he suffered a herniated disk, loss of height, worn-down teeth, heart damage, frustration and anger after falling out of an office chair he purchased from the Brooklyn furniture store.
How in the hell is it possible to suffer a “loss of height,” and “worn-down teeth” from falling out of an office chair? How does work Mr. Batra?
Now if Mr. Batra fell out of the chair pictured to the right, then maybe that could have caused a “loss of height,” right? And if so, then I offer my sincerest apologies to Mr. Batra.
During the time she presided over Mr. Batra’s $80 million lawsuit, and while they were chumming around, Judge Lebedeff appointed Batra to several fiduciary appointments, including one wherein she approved $84,000 in fees for Mr. Batra.
It cannot be argued that Judge Lebedeff has habitually rewarded her friends with appointments that generated lucrative fees without any concern to act in accordance with the Oath of Office she took in 1983.
Suffice it to say that Judge Diane Lebedeff has dedicated his judicial career to the total avoidance of propriety.
The so-called punishment metered out to Judge Lebedeff by the enablers on the Judicial Commission is further proof that judges are held to a lower standard of conduct than we are.
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