By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 8/28/2026
Category: Courts / Attorney Discipline / Consumer Protection / Accountability
NEW YORK CITY, NY – A Manhattan lawyer has been disbarred after telling an appellate court he could not successfully defend allegations that he misappropriated more than $54,000 tied to a real estate transaction.
The Appellate Division, First Department, accepted Stephen Luke DiLorenzo’s resignation and struck his name from New York’s attorney rolls in a decision entered Thursday. The disbarment is effective retroactively to March 31, 2026, the date of his sworn resignation affidavit.
The underlying allegations are serious. According to the court, the Attorney Grievance Committee was investigating claims that DiLorenzo misappropriated $44,986.86 from a purchaser’s $47,500 down payment and another $9,577.74 from his client’s proceeds.
Those figures are allegations described in a public disciplinary decision. The court did not conduct a contested hearing or make separate factual findings on the alleged diversion because DiLorenzo chose to resign while the investigation was pending.
In his affidavit, DiLorenzo acknowledged that he could not successfully defend against the allegations. He also said he had made full restitution before the grievance committee began its investigation. The court’s ruling does not identify the parties to the real estate transaction or explain how the money allegedly left escrow.
Escrow accounts are supposed to keep client and third-party money separate from a lawyer’s own funds. When that safeguard fails, home buyers and sellers can be left exposed during one of the largest financial transactions of their lives.
The court said DiLorenzo understood that accepting his resignation would result in disbarment. While his application was pending, he agreed not to take new clients, accept retainers for future work, or conduct transactions in fiduciary accounts except to release money to the people entitled to it.
The order bars him from practicing law, appearing as a lawyer before courts or public agencies, giving legal advice, or holding himself out as an attorney. It also requires the return of any secure court pass issued by the Office of Court Administration.
Full restitution does not erase the accountability issue. The public record shows that a lawyer facing detailed escrow allegations left the profession through resignation rather than a litigated disciplinary case. That resolves his license status, but it leaves unanswered how the safeguards around the disputed funds failed and whether anyone detected the problem before the affected parties did.
The First Department’s decision is uncorrected and may be revised before publication in the Official Reports.
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