Opinion
Motion No. 2023-00084 Case No. 2008-00178
02-23-2023
In the Matter of Kehinde Oluwaranti Jobi, (OCA Atty. Reg. No. 2712909), a disbarred 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Unpublished Opinion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. Rolando T. Acosta, Sallie Manzanet-Daniels Barbara R. Kapnick Troy K. Webber Martin Shulman, Justices.
An order of this Court having been entered on October 23, 2008 (M-2837) suspending petitioner (who 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 November 20, 1995), from the practice of law effective the date thereof, based upon her willful failure to cooperate with the Committee in its investigation into allegations of professional misconduct, And an order of this Court having been entered on March 2, 2010, corrected March 8, 2010 (M-263), accepting the resignation of petitioner, striking her name from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law in the State of New York, nunc pro tunc to December 21, 2009, and directing petitioner to reimburse the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York for awards made to persons whose money or property was willfully misappropriated or misapplied by petitioner, And an order of this Court having been entered on September 23, 2021 (Motion No. 2021-01616), granting petitioner's motion pursuant to 22 NYCRR 1240.16(a) and (b) for reinstatement as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, to the extent of referring the matter to a referee to conduct a hearing where petitioner would have the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that she had fully complied with the order of disbarment and the Rules of this Court, that she possesses the requisite character and general fitness to resume the practice of law, and that she otherwise meets the standards for reinstatement set out in 22 NYCRR 1240.16,
And an order of this Court having been entered on August 2, 2022 denying respondent Attorney Grievance Committee's application for an order confirming the Referee's report recommending that reinstatement be denied, and granting petitioner's cross motion for an order disaffirming the Referee's report, and ordering that petitioner be reinstated to the practice of law in the State of New York upon her providing the Court and the Committee with proof that she has entered into payment plans with respect to the two outstanding legal malpractice judgments against her and the default judgment against her obtained by the S. Family, and directing that thereafter, petitioner provide the Committee with a progress report, every six months, regarding the status of her efforts with respect to the payment plans (Motion Nos. 2022-02132 and 2022-02428), And petitioner, upon her submission of an affidavit of compliance with this Court's August 2, 2022 order, sworn to on December 29, 2022, having moved this Court for an order pursuant to 22 NYCRR 1240.16(a) and (b) reinstating her as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, And the Committee, by Jorge Dopico, its Chief Attorney (Remi Shea, of counsel) having submitted an affirmation stating, inter alia, that it does not oppose petitioner's motion for reinstatement, Now, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is unanimously, ORDERED that petitioner's motion for reinstatement is granted, and petitioner Kehinde Oluwaranti Jobi is reinstated as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, effective the date hereof, upon the conditions that she continue to provide the Committee with the six-month progress reports required by the August 2, 2022 order, until completion of the payment plans, and that she immediately register with and pay to the Office of Court Administration any applicable registration fees in compliance with Judiciary Law § 468-a.