Opinion
Case Number: SCBD-5753
05-21-2012
IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF: BART CHARLES CRAYTOR, TO MEMBERSHIP IN THE OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION AND TO THE ROLL OF ATTORNEYS.
FOR PUBLICATION IN OBJ ONLY. NOT RELEASED FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION.
ORDER
¶1 Petitioner Bart Charles Craytor has presented this Court with a Petition for Reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) pursuant to Rule 11, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S.2001, Ch. 1, App. 1-A (RGDP), as amended. The OBA, through its Office of General Counsel, investigated the matter and recommends the petition be granted. A trial panel of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal (PRT) held a hearing on the petition on November 8, 2011, and filed a report with this Court on December 9, 2011, finding that Petitioner meets the requirements for reinstatement. The PRT report recommended the petition be granted and that Petitioner be reinstated to OBA membership. Thereafter, on January 13, 2012, the OBA and Petitioner filed a Joint Waiver of Briefs with the Court requesting that we accept the PRT's recommendation to reinstate Petitioner.
¶2 Upon consideration of the matter, we find the record shows by clear and convincing evidence the following:
1. Petitioner graduated from the Oklahoma City University School of Law on May 11, 1991. He was admitted to OBA membership and licensed to practice law in Oklahoma on September 25, 1991, following successful completion of the Oklahoma Bar Examination.
2. Petitioner practiced law in Oklahoma from September 1991 until June 1993. Petitioner then sat for the Arkansas Bar and was admitted to the Role of Attorneys in Arkansas on April 1, 1993. In June 1993, he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and practiced law there until August 1994. He returned to Oklahoma in September 1994 and practiced law there until May 31, 1996. He moved to Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas in June 1994 to practice in nearby Arkansas. On November 18, 1999, he was admitted to the Role of Attorneys of the State of Texas and began to practice in Bowie County, Texas where he continues to practice to this day.
3. Petitioner maintained his license to practice law in Oklahoma until June 25, 2010, when he resigned from OBA membership. At the time of his resignation, he was not subject of any disciplinary investigation or proceeding. He resigned his OBA membership due to a restriction in his employment as an assistant public defender in the 102nd Judicial District of Texas consisting of Bowie and Red River Counties.
4. No objections were filed to the petition requesting reinstatement and no one appeared in opposition to reinstatement.
5. Petitioner possesses the good moral character entitling him to be admitted to the OBA.
6. Petitioner has not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Oklahoma or any other State during the period of his resignation.
7. Petitioner has kept abreast of developments in the law and possesses the competency and learning in the law required for admission to the practice of law in Oklahoma. More particularly, he recently completed twenty five (25) hours of OBA approved CLE credit including five and one quarter (5.25) hours of ethics. He has otherwise sufficiently demonstrated his competency, so that there is no need for him to take and pass the regular bar exam.
8. Petitioner has not filed a petition for reinstatement to the OBA during the one year period immediately preceding the instant petition's date.
9. The OBA has incurred $801.59 in reimbursable costs in this matter.
10. Petitioner's Petition for Reinstatement should be approved.
¶3 In that Petitioner has met his burden of proof to show, by clear and convincing evidence, each of the prerequisites to reinstatement found in Rule 11.5, RGPD, as discussed in In Re Reinstatement of Swant, 2003 OK 9, 65 P.3d 275, it is ORDERED that Bart Charles Craytor be reinstated to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association and that his name be reinstated to the Roll of Attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Oklahoma.
¶4 It is also ORDERED that Petitioner shall pay to the OBA the costs of this proceeding in the amount of $801.59 and the current year membership dues in the amount of $275.00. Such payments to be made within thirty (30) days from the date this Order is filed with the Clerk of this Court.
¶5 It is also ORDERED that reinstatement is conditioned upon Petitioner's payment to the OBA of the amount specified in ¶ 4 above and completion of twelve (12) hours of CLE, including one (1) hour of ethics for the calendar year in which reinstatement is granted, or obtain a waiver thereof.
¶6 DONE IN CONFERENCE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT THIS 21 ST DAY OF MAY, 2012.
CHIEF JUSTICE
¶7 ALL JUSTICES CONCUR.