Problematic Answer

The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board has affirmed the denial of a suspended attorney’s petition for reinstatement.

The suspension involved a false statement in a federal court proceeding.

The problem here

As noted in the panel’s report, petitioner’s testimony that he believed the Attorney Grievance Commission was part of the State Bar and he therefore had been suspended by the State Bar, and that because he had no pending cases in any courts, he was not “suspended by a court,” was simply not credible in light of the fact that petitioner was fully aware of the process having gone through an entire reinstatement proceeding that resulted from his prior thirty month suspension. Additionally, on cross-examination, petitioner admitted that when the matter was brought to the court’s attention, he wrote a letter of explanation which did not include his apparent belief that he had been suspended by the State Bar but rather had indicated thathe  had voluntarily resigned.

(Mike Frisch)