The city attorney for Norwalk has been reprimanded by the state’s Attorney Disciplinary Board for neglecting a probate case that allegedly languished for almost six years.
In issuing the public reprimand, the board found that James S. Dougherty, who was in private practice for a number of years before becoming the staff attorney for the City of Norwalk, allowed a probate case he was handling to remain open for nearly six years, beginning in 2018.
During that period, the board says, the estate of the deceased woman received multiple delinquency notices due to Dougherty’s failure to file with the court all of the required reports. Dougherty also failed to comply with a July 2022 court order directing him to correct specific deficiencies in his final report, the board alleged, and he then allowed the matter to stagnate until the court was compelled to issue more delinquency notices and issue a show-cause order in 2024…