AMHERST, N.Y. — Andrew Schnorr, 39, of West Seneca was arraigned on Thursday in Amherst Town Court on charges of grand larceny, and practicing law without being admitted to the bar or being registered.
The charges, announced by the New York State Attorney General's Office on Wednesday, are felonies serious enough to send Schnorr to prison if he is convicted.
It is alleged that in July of 2019 Schnorr was hired on as an attorney at a Buffalo-area law firm while presenting himself, falsely, as a lawyer with three to four years of experience, and who received his degree from New York University Law School.
2 On Your Side obtained a copy of the criminal complaint against Schnorr from the office of the New York State Attorney General, which is prosecuting the case. (Scroll to the bottom of this story to read the complaint.)
However, it was heavily redacted with the name of the law firm that hired Schnorr blacked out, as well as any references to cases where he represented their clients.
According to the complaint, Schnorr appeared in court representing the unnamed firm and its clients on "multiple occasions," signed and filed legal documents, and participated at depositions.
The complaint further alleges that he performed legal work on 42 different matters for nine different clients, for which the firm that hired him billed those clients nearly $23,000.
Schnorr's time at the firm only lasted six weeks, when according to the AG, another attorney complained of his apparent incompetence, and the unnamed firm he was working for then discovered he was not an attorney and immediately dismissed him.
According to the complaint, the law firm refunded clients for any of the legal work performed by Schnorr, who, according to the complaint, was paid more than $6,000 in salary for the six weeks he was employed.