| Case Digest |
Formerly admitted attorney who had been disbarred on consent in 1996 after converting $7,500.00 in client funds, sought reinstatement to the bar. The formerly admitted attorney claimed that he sought rehabilitation from his drug addiction, was successfully maintaining his sobriety, and was otherwise fit for readmission.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) opposed based on the formerly admitted attorney’s failure to establish that he had engaged in a sustained program of sobriety. The formerly admitted attorney had been addicted to drugs for twenty years, had a number of unsuccessful attempts at gaining sobriety and had only been drug free for a period of approximately thirteen months (at the time of hearing) of the five year period of his disbarment.
The Board found that the attorney had failed to meet his burden of proving that he had engaged in a “substantial rehabilitative effort,” and recommended that reinstatement be denied.
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