Opinion
94S00-1206-MS-302
12-21-2012
IN THE MATTER OF FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS and/or NONPAYMENT OF ATTORNEY REGISTRATION FEES
Editorial Note:
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
ORDER
Brent E. Dickson Chief Justice of Indiana
On June 1, 2012, this Court issued an order suspending certain attorneys for failing to comply with their annual registration fee payment obligations, see generally Ind. Admission and Discipline Rule 2, and/or their continuing legal education ("CLE") obligations, see generally Admis. Disc. R. 29, §§ 3 or 10. James A. Hanson, Indiana attorney number 28435, was included within that order for nonpayment of his 2011/12 fees and failing to satisfy his 2011 CLE obligation.
Attorney Hanson has filed a Petition for Relief from Order of Suspension. In his Petition, Hanson asserts that he was admitted to practice law in Indiana under a Business Counsel License, see generally Ind. Admis. Disc. 6, § 2, but that on March 25, 2011, his employment with his employer, Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, ended. Because he was unable to secure employment providing legal services to another Indiana employer within three months thereafter and was unable to secure admission to practice law in Indiana on another basis, his right to practice law in Indiana terminated on June 26, 2011. See id He has not practiced law in Indiana since his license terminated. Instead, he applied for and successfully passed the Indiana bar examination in July 2012 and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam in November 2012, and has been found to possess the requisite character and fitness by the Board of Law Examiners. Although he has satisfied all requirements for admission on examination, he cannot be so admitted, however, because of the June 1, 2012 order suspending him from the practice of law in Indiana. He asks that the suspension be lifted so that he can be admitted on examination to the Indiana bar.
We find that under our rules as currently written, attorney Hanson's license to practice law automatically "terminated" on June 26, 2011, and there was nothing more he was thereafter obligated to do with regard either to payment of the annual attorney registration fee due by October 1, 2011, or his 2011 CLE requirements. Accordingly, he should not have been included in our June 1, 2012 Order of Suspension. Therefore, attorney Hanson's Petition is GRANTED. Our June 1, 2012 "Order of Suspension of Certain Attorneys for Failure to Pay Attorney Registration Fees and/or Failure to Comply with Continuing Legal Education Requirements" is hereby RESCINDED insofar as it pertains to James A, Hanson, attorney number 28435-02.
The Clerk of this Court is directed to forward a copy of this order to James A. Hanson; to the Executive Director of the Board of Law Examiners; to the Executive Director of the Continuing Legal Education Commission; to the Executive Secretary of the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission; and to the Supreme Court Administration Office. The Clerk is also directed to post this order to the Court's website.
All Justices concur.