Opinion
21-cv-01038
08-30-2021
La Michoacana Meat Market TM Holdings, LLC v. Garcia-Gamino
Abdul Arif, Esq. Gretchen Welk Attorney Admissions
Abdul Arif, Esq.
Gretchen Welk Attorney Admissions
1
Dear Mr. Arif, On October 13, 2020, you received the attached e-mail from Gretchen Welk outlining several conditions for your continued admission to the District of Kansas bar. You were required to meet the following conditions:
1) Submit documentation of completed Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits within 30 days of completion.
2) Complete 12 CLE credit hours (including 2 hours in ethics and professionalism), no later than July 31, 2021.
3) Complete the required questionnaire on the Online Attorney Renewal System and pay your annual renewal fee.
4) All documentation regarding CLE credit hours were to be sent directly to Ms. Welk at the email address provided.
Unfortunately, our records show that you failed to meet all of the above requirements. You did not report one of your CLE classes to Ms. Welk at the required email address within 30 days of its completion, nor did you complete a renewal questionnaire and pay the required renewal fee. Therefore, you are now in terminated status pursuant to D. Kan. Rule 83.5.3.
In addition to the above issues, there are several instances in the past where you have failed to meet requirements set forth by this court which has led to the decision to keep you in terminated status indefinitely. Following are a few of the examples:
1) In 2013, you failed to report CLE credits as required.
2) In 2015, you were placed on diversion because of a failure to report CLE credits as required.
3) In 2016, you failed to report CLE credits as required nor did you pay your renewal fee in a timely manner.
4) In 2018, you failed to report CLE credits as required.
5) In the years not specifically mentioned, this court continuously had to contact you to obtain CLE documentation. It was never willingly supplied by you in a timely manner as required by your special admission.2
This court's disciplinary panel, along with the Chief Judge, have agreed that you will remain in terminated status and, as of September 1, 2021, will no longer be able to practice in our court without the assistance of local counsel. Should you choose to practice in the District of Kansas in the future, you will be subject to D. Kan. Rule 83.5.4, which governs admission of attorneys pro hac vice.
You have a case presently pending: La Michoacana Meat Market TM Holdings, LLC v. Garcia-Gamino, et al., No. 6:31-cv-1038-EFM-JPO. You will need to find counsel to associate with you or take over the case. You are required to do so by Friday, September 17, 2021.
As I am retiring on August 31, 2021, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the new clerk of court, Skyler O'Hara at 913-735-2232 or Skyler_Ohara@ksd.uscourts.gov.
Sincerely, Timothy M. O'Brien
KSD_Attorney_Registration
Mr. Arif, I would like to introduce myself, as I believe we have not yet spoken. My name is Gretchen Welk and I will be taking over as the Attorney Registration Clerk for the United States District Court in the District of Kansas. As I understand it, you have been a provisional member of our court since November 13, 2009 and are required to complete certain tasks each year as a condition of your membership.
My understanding is that you must complete the renewal questionnaire on our Online Attorney Renewal System (OARS), pay the renewal fee, and report your CLE hours to Mr. O'Brien each year. You must comply with the CLE requirements set forth by the State of Kansas. Meaning, you must complete 12 hours of CLE credits, which includes 2 hours of credits in ethics and professionalism. As of the date of this writing, you have only submitted documentation for 8.5 hours, none of those hours counting towards ethics and professionalism for the 2019-2020 reporting period. If you have further documentation of completed CLE's, please email them to me at your earliest convenience.
It would be beneficial to all of us if we streamlined the requirements of your membership so as to avoid further confusion. Looking back through our records, it has been some time since you have successfully reported the completion of your CLE requirements. Going forward, you will need to complete the following tasks to remain as a member in good standing:
1.) Going forward, you will submit documentation of completed CLE credits within 30 days of their completion to KSD_Attorney_Registration@ksd.uscourts.gov.
2.) Going forward, you will complete 12 CLE credit hours, including 2 hours of ethics and professionalism no later than July 31st of the reporting year unless otherwise negotiated. All change requests must be submitted to the email address listed above. The Attorney Registration Clerk will forward any change requests to the Clerk of the District Court for approval.
3.) You will continue to complete the required OARS renewal questionnaire and submit payment as required by D. Kan. Rule 83.5.3, unless otherwise negotiated. All change requests must be submitted to the email address listed above. The Attorney Registration Clerk will forward any change requests to the Clerk of the District Court for approval.
4.) Regardless of if the required OARS renewal payment is received by the stated deadline, if the Attorney Registration Clerk does not have documentation of 12 completed CLE credit hours, including 2 credit hours of ethics and professionalism, you will be moved to Termed status pursuant to D. Kan. Rule 83.5.3 and will be required to pay an additional $125 fee, as well as proof of completed CLE credit hours, to return to Active status.
5.) While you are welcome to copy Mr. O'Brien when you submit documentation to the Court, submitting any required documentation to Mr. O'Brien, while failing to include the Attorney Registration Clerk, will not be counted as received. All documentation MUST be emailed to KSD_Attorney_Registration@ksd.uscourts.gov to be considered in compliance.
You may feel free to contact me at the email listed above any time should you have any questions or concerns You can also reach me at my direct number listed in my signature line. You may review the rules pertaining to CLE compliance for the State of Kansas at https://www.kscle.org/rules-guidelines. I look forward to working with you and I hope you have been able to stay safe during these uncertain times.