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On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, The Daily Record reported that Erie County attorney Jason A. Shear has been suspended from practicing law for two years due to professional misconduct. Shear, who was admitted to practice in February 2007, was found to have violated several provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct.<\/p>\n
The suspension stems from a petition filed in August 2025 by the Grievance Committee of the Eighth Judicial District. The allegations against Shear included failing to communicate with a client, engaging in sexual relations with a client, and making false statements to the Grievance Committee. Shear denied the allegations, leading to a hearing appointed by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, Fourth Department.<\/p>\n
A referee’s report sustained the charges of misconduct, finding that Shear had given false testimony and made ad hominem attacks against the client and the attorney for the Grievance Committee. The referee determined that in the summer of 2023, Shear accepted a $200 fee to represent a client in a foreclosure case. By the fall of 2023, Shear’s relationship with the client had become more personal, evidenced by thousands of text messages and security camera footage showing Shear at the client’s home. The referee concluded that Shear engaged in sexual relations with the client on several occasions in October 2023.<\/p>\n
The client reportedly expressed shock upon learning Shear was married and became concerned that the outcome of her legal matter might be jeopardized if she ended the intimate relationship. Following the end of the relationship, Shear allegedly became unresponsive for several months in early 2024, failing to inform the client about a court conference in April 2024. The client subsequently terminated Shear’s legal representation, filed a grievance complaint, and resolved the foreclosure case independently.<\/p>\n
The referee also noted that Shear attempted to discredit the client by making “unsupported and incredible assertions,” including claims that she was violent, mentally ill, and stalking him.<\/p>\n
The Fourth Department confirmed the referee’s findings. While Shear had no prior disciplinary history and the misconduct involved a single client matter, the court found that he failed to offer any persuasive mitigating factors.<\/p>\n
The court stated that Shear “made false statements during the investigation, gave false testimony during the hearing, and resorted to frivolous ad hominem attacks against … the client and grievance counsel.” Furthermore, the panel observed that Shear “reiterated many of those false and frivolous assertions” when appearing before the court.<\/p>\n
The Fourth Department concluded that Shear’s tactics demonstrated a “lack of remorse for the misconduct, an inability to acknowledge his own wrongdoing, and a disregard for the authority of the Grievance Committee and this Court.”<\/p>\n
Consequently, the court ruled that Shear should be suspended from the practice of law for a period of two years.<\/p>\n