Reinstatement No

An attorney who was suspended for a year and until further court order in 2014 by the New York Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department was denied reinstatement in an order entered today by that court.

Upon our review of, among other things, respondent’s application, his submissions, the testimony before the subcommittee and the subcommittee’s report and recommendation, we conclude that respondent has not shown by clear and convincing evidence that he possesses   fitness to resume the practice of law (see Rules of App Div, 3d Dept [22 NYCRR] § 806.12 [b]; Matter of Oswald, 135 AD3d 1154, ___, 22 NYS3d 918, 919 [2015]). Specifically, we are not persuaded that respondent has adequately addressed the factors that he acknowledges contributed to his underlying misconduct and suspension from the practice of law. Accordingly, we deny his application for reinstatement.

From the suspension order

…respondent created a fraudulent document purporting to be from a government entity and provided it to his client in an effort to make it appear that he had obtained the approval of the client’s visa application. He also provided false reports to the client attributing the delay in approval of the application to government bureaucracy, when, in fact, he had failed to file the necessary paperwork in a timely fashion.

In mitigation, respondent expresses regret for his misconduct and cites personal problems. However, as this Court has previously stated, “attorneys must attend to their clients’ interests punctually and with vigor despite distracting and stressful intrusions from personal and   their clients of their option to obtain other counsel”

 (Mike Frisch)