IN RE: COMMITTEE ON BAR ADMISSIONS CFN-817763 (2023)

Conditional admission granted. See per curiam.

BAR ADMISSIONS PROCEEDING

The Committee on Bar Admissions (“Committee”) denied petitioner's application to take the Louisiana Bar Examination, citing the following issues: (1) petitioner was charged with domestic violence – assault in the fourth degree, and a domestic violence no-contact order was issued against him; and (2) petitioner's child support payments are in arrears. Petitioner then applied to this court for permission to take the bar exam. We granted the application, with the condition that upon petitioner's successful completion of the exam, he apply for the appointment of a commissioner to take character and fitness evidence.

Upon passing the bar exam, and on petitioner's application to this court, we remanded this matter to the Committee on Bar Admissions Panel on Character and Fitness to conduct an investigation and appointed a commissioner to take character and fitness evidence. Following the proceedings, the commissioner filed his report with this court, recommending that petitioner be conditionally admitted to the practice of law. Neither party objected to this recommendation.

Considering the commissioner's recommendation, the absence of any objection from the parties, and the entire record of this proceeding, we conclude petitioner is eligible to be admitted to the practice of law in Louisiana, subject to the following conditions:

The term of this conditional admission shall be for two years from the date of admission. However, petitioner's conditional admission status shall not be terminated until this court so orders.

I. Within thirty days of petitioner's admission, he shall enter into a formal plan with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (“ODC”) incorporating the following conditions:

A. During the period of this conditional admission, petitioner shall comply with all terms and conditions of his unsupervised probation in Washington State.

B. During the period of this conditional admission, petitioner shall provide evidence to the ODC, on at least a quarterly basis, demonstrating that he has fully paid his monthly court-ordered child support obligation.

C. During the period of this conditional admission, petitioner shall enter into a payment schedule for the amount of his child support obligation that is in arrears. On at least a quarterly basis, petitioner shall provide evidence to the ODC demonstrating that he has made payments in accordance with the schedule.

D. Petitioner shall cooperate with the ODC, and shall comply with any and all requirements imposed upon him by the ODC.

II. Within thirty days prior to the expiration of the conditional admission, the ODC shall file a report in this court in which it shall recommend to the court that the conditional admission be allowed to terminate or be extended.

Should petitioner fail to make a good faith effort to satisfy these conditions, or should he commit any misconduct during the period of probation, his conditional right to practice may be terminated or he may be subjected to other discipline pursuant to the Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement.

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION GRANTED.

While I agree with the Court's conditional admission of petitioner under these facts and circumstances, I would also require petitioner to attend at least six additional hours of Professionalism as part of the conditions assigned to his admission. See generally La. State Bar Association Code of Professionalism, available at https://www.lsba.org/Professionalism/ (“I will conduct myself with honesty, dignity, civility, courtesy and fairness and will not engage in any demeaning or derogatory actions or commentary toward others; I will work to protect and improve the image of the legal profession in the eyes of the public.”).