Disbar Michael Hewitt

Michael Hewitt is not a licensed attorney.

Michael Hewitt is not a licensed attorney.

He attended SUNY Buffalo Law School. He was inducted into the Order of Barristers in 1993.

But Michael Hewitt is not a licensed attorney. He never passed the bar.

The UCS website has the registration status of attorneys licensed to practice in New York. But it does not have a registration for Michael Hewitt.

He never passed the bar.

In 2017, Michael Hewitt was the "Interim Assistant Vice President for Legal Affairs and Labor" at Brooklyn College. He is currently the "University Executive Director of Labor Hearings and Appeals" for the City University of New York. And he is an Esquire Defendant in the case of Wilson v. State of New York, et al., 15-cv-23 (CBA) (MMH).

But Michael Hewitt is not a licensed attorney. He never passed the bar.

Hewitt v. Father Sogliuzzo

On Oct 26, 1997, over 800 parishioners had a contentious meeting with their new pastor at the Church of St. Francis Xavier on West 16th St. in Manhattan.

"I thought it was going to be a dialogue," said Michael T. Hewitt, a lawyer. "There was this expectation there would be answers, but there weren't." (NYTimes, Nov 9, 1997)

Father Louis Sogliuzzo's decision to restore traditional liturgy at Sunday mass discontinued the reflections that a popular nun occasionally offered after homily. Outraged parishioners accused him of authoritarian leadership and demanded his resignation.

"We were getting bombarded with letters and phone calls," said the Rev. Thomas Smith, the assistant to the Rev. Kenneth Gavin, the Provincial in charge of Jesuits in the region. "And the one common thread was, 'Please intervene and help us somehow.'" (NYTimes, Jan 2, 1998)

After one parishioner questioned Father Sogliuzzo's handling of church finances, other parishioners began withholding their donations. After mass, they met at the bottom of the church steps, where they openly discussed their desire for Father Sogliuzzo to leave.

"We want him to go," said Michael T. Hewitt, a leading opponent. "There's no question that that's a must for things to move forward at this church." (NYTimes, Jan 2, 1998)

Father Sogliuzzo resigned a few days later.

$22,000 in the escrow account

Thousands of dollars were withheld each week. Donations had dropped to less than half the budgeted amount.

In recent weeks, collections have been down considerably from the budgeted weekly amount. For example, on Nov. 16, the parish took in $3,700 compared to a budgeted amount of $8,300, according to the parish bulletin. (National Catholic Reporter, Dec 5, 1997).

But the withheld money did not remain in parishioners' wallets. Instead a committee set up an escrow account to collect the donations that would have otherwise gone to the church.

Those opposing the pastor have urged parishioners to temporarily withhold donations to the parish. Mike Hewitt, a lawyer and member of the media committee, said efforts are underway to set up an escrow account. (National Catholic Reporter, Dec 5, 1997).

According to the NYTimes, the "Friends of Xavier Fund" totaled $22,000 at the time of Father Sogliuzzo's resignation. And the article reported that those funds would soon given to the church (NYTimes, Jan 5, 1998).

What the article does not report is how much the fund collected. The article reports the balance of $22,000, but it does not report how much was collected from parishioners.

So we do not know how much went to the church and how much went to administrative fees. But we are certain that the "lawyer" who set up the escrow account would know.

sources:

• "A Liberal Parish, Not-So-Liberal Pastor, Trouble."   NYTimes,  Nov 9, 1997.
• "Two noted Jesuit parishes under scrutiny."   National Catholic Reporter,  Dec 5, 1997.
• "Traditions Collide in a Chelsea Parish."   NYTimes,  Jan 2, 1998.
• "Pastor Resigns From a Divided Chelsea Parish."   NYTimes,  Jan 5, 1998.

Wilson v. State of New York, et al.

In a case before the Eastern District of New York, Mr. Hewitt is listed on the docket as an esquire defendant. He's not an "esquire," but a lawsuit was filed against him for what he did as an "esquire."

According to the original complaint in that case, Wilson v. State of New York, et al., 15-cv-23 (CBA) (MMH), Mr. Hewitt did nothing to stop the defamation and harassment of Plaintiff Joe Wilson (pars. 45-47).

Instead, Prof. Wilson's office was raided, his files were confiscated and sent to the New York State Attorney General in an unsuccessful effort to effect a criminal prosecution of Prof. Wilson (par. 61).

After the NYS Attorney General declined to prosecute, Mr. Hewitt testified in disciplinary proceedings that resulted in the termination of Prof. Wilson's employment. Interestingly, when Chancellor's Designee Pamela Silverblatt transmitted the decision to Prof. Wilson and his PSC-CUNY representative (23 Oct 2014), she did not send a copy to the attorneys who represented Brooklyn College. Instead, she sent a copy to "Michael T. Hewitt, Esq." (who is not an "esquire").

As one can read in her decision, Mr. Hewitt only provided a few timesheets, but attended a lot of hearings. He was so "concerned that the GCWE could be seen as having tried to circumvent the University's rules limiting payment of overtime" (page 24) that he attended 10 of the 12 hearings (page 2).

That's an extraordinary amount of "concern" for overtime that was paid to a College Office Assistant with an annual salary of $33,036 (page 23, footnote 54).

In fairness, there were other disciplinary charges too. According to the decision, "the College asserted an 'almost staggering' number of violations and improper practices" (page 3). Readers of the decision will find those violations staggeringly difficult to understand. We find it staggeringly difficult to understand why the 12 hearings were staggered over 17 months (page 1).

references:

• Wilson v. NYS, doc. 1,  original complaint,  Jan 5, 2015
• Wilson v. NYS, doc. 28.3,  Silverblatt opinion,  Oct 23, 2014

Kovach v. CUNY, et al.

In another case, Mr. Hewitt became very concerned by one person's efforts to breathe. According to the complaint in the case of Kovach vs. CUNY, et al., 13-cv-7198 (LGS), Plaintiff Kathleen Kovach suffered respiratory health damage from a Freon leak in her office (pars. 22-24).

Mr. Hewitt refused to accept letters from two physicians about her worsening health condition (pars. 33, 34 & 36). He allowed her supervisor to send a defamatory email about her (par. 36). And ultimately, Mr. Hewitt rejected her request for an accomodation (par. 45).

The accomodation that Ms. Kovach sought was an accomodation that would help her breathe. Her office was causing her to experience allergic reactions, shaking, disorientation and difficulty breathing (par. 22).

Nonetheless, Mr. Hewitt was concerned that the letters from two physicians were "too vague" (par. 33). And Mr. Hewitt took no action to stop her supervisor from smoking in the same office (par. 25).

According to Ms. Kovach's complaint, that's how Mr. Hewitt accomodated a respiratory health condition. He allowed her supervisor to smoke in the same office.

Mr. Hewitt showed more concern for her supervisor's cigarettes than Ms. Kovach's lungs.

references:

• Kovach v. CUNY, doc. 1,  complaint,  Oct 11, 2013

about & contact

Michael Hewitt is not a licensed attorney. He never passed the bar.

And because Mr. Hewitt's unlawful practice of law adversely affects tens of thousands of CUNY faculty and staff (and by extension their students), we'll keep documenting that Unlicensed Attorney's crimes until he gets disbarred.

We urge readers to write to the NYS Attorney General:  letitia.james@ag.ny.gov and ask her to stop defending Michael T. Hewitt's unlicensed practice of law in federal court and start prosecuting it in state court.

And if you have any questions, comments or concerns, you may also write to Mark U. Fichael-Hewitt at:  mark@disbarmichaelhewitt.com or message him at:  twitter.com/Mark_UFH.