The Minnesota Supreme Court has reinstated a suspended attorney

Petitioner Eric Arthur Forstrom was admitted to practice law in the State of Minnesota on December 27, 2006. On November 15, 2011, we indefinitely suspended petitioner from the practice of law with no right to petition for reinstatement for one year, effective 14 days from the date of that order, based on an order of the State Bar Court of California suspending petitioner from the practice of law in California for two years, with one year stayed. In re Forstrom, 806 N.W.2d 76, 76–77 (Minn. 2011) (order). Petitioner’s suspension from the practice of law in California was based on his conviction for filing false reports with the police and his insurance company, alleging that his car had been stolen. Id. Petitioner’s conduct violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(b) and 8.4(c). Forstrom, 806 N.W.2d at 76–77.

Petitioner applied for reinstatement in May 2024, and on October 24, 2024, a hearing was held before a panel of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. On November 11, 2024, the panel finalized its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendation for reinstatement. The panel found that petitioner had proven by clear and convincing evidence that he had undergone the requisite moral change to render him fit to resume the practice of law, that he possessed the intellectual competency to practice law, and that he had otherwise met the conditions of reinstatement set forth in our prior order, except that petitioner has not yet satisfied the required continuing legal education requirements. See Rule 18(e)(4)(1), Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR). The panel recommended that petitioner be reinstated to the practice of law upon satisfaction of the required continuing legal education requirements and payment of the required annual lawyer registration fee.