Opinion
Motion No. 2022-04218 Case No. 2021-03459
02-21-2023
In the Matter of Howard J. Burger (admitted as Howard Jon Burger) (OCA Atty. Reg. No. 1609312), a suspended attorney: Petitioner, For Reinstatement to the Bar of The State of New York, Attorney Grievance Committee for the First Judicial Department, Respondent.
Unpublished Opinion
MOTION DECISION
Present - Hon. Dianne T. Renwick, Justice Presiding, Ellen Gesmer, Peter H. Moulton, Martin Shulman, Bahaati E. Pitt-Burke Justices.
An order of this Court having been entered on November 30, 2021 (M-2021-03207), suspending petitioner (who, as Howard Jon Burger, was admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York at a Term of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department on February 2, 1970) from the practice of law in the State of New York for a period of two years, effective nunc pro tunc to November 6, 2020, the date of his suspension by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and until further order of this Court, pursuant to the doctrine of reciprocal discipline, predicated upon the aforesaid discipline imposed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, And petitioner, pro se, having moved this Court on December 27, 2022, for an order pursuant to 22 NYCRR 1240.16(a) and (b), reinstating him as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, and for an order sealing certain tax returns annexed to the affirmation submitted in support of said motion for reinstatement, And the Attorney Grievance Committee, by Jorge Dopico, its Chief Attorney (Remi E. Shea, of counsel), having submitted an affirmation, dated December 20, 2022, stating, inter alia, that it does not oppose petitioner's reinstatement, and that it takes no position with respect to his request that his tax returns be sealed, And the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection having submitted a letter, dated October 26, 2022, stating that it has no objection to the relief sought,
Now, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is unanimously, Ordered that the motion is granted to the extent that petitioner Howard J. Burger, admitted as Howard Jon Burger, is reinstated as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, effective the date hereof. Petitioner's request to seal the tax returns annexed to his affirmation in support of the motion for reinstatement is denied.