30 Days Lasts Nine Years

The Indiana Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of an attorney who had been suspended for 30 days with a requirement that he petition for reinstatement on June 9, 2000. The court found that the petitioner had satisfied the requirements for the return of his license by clear and convincing evidence.

Justice Dickson dissented, and would find that the petitioner failed to establish two of the reinstatement prerequisites: a proper understanding of ethical standards and that he “can safely be recommended to the legal profession, the courts, and the public as a person of trust and confidence, and in general aid in the administration of justice as a member of the bar and an officer of the Courts.”

One prerequisite requires the petitioner to take the MPRE and pass with a scaled score of 80. 

In the District of Columbia, there is a case involving an attorney who was suspended for a year and a day in 1983 (which at the time imposed a requirement of a petition for reinstatement) and had never been able to achieve reinstatement. The story is related in this opinion of the Court of Appeals denying reinstatement in 2004. Money quote from petitioner: “The typical BPR Hearing Committee consists of two toads and a troglodyte meaning no doubt, that only a cynical toady would knowingly participate in such an obviously lawless inquisitorial process.” (Mike Frisch)