This article in the ABA Journal warns that it is difficult, indeed unlikely, for disbarred attorneys to gain their licenses back upon reapplication, with some states making this quest so impossible as get them dubbed “death penalty states.” The Law Librarian couldn’t help but wonder how steep the odds are for disbarred Minnesota attorneys seeking professional reinstatement.
Minnesota attorneys are bound by the Minnesota Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility, which are administered by the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. Rule 18 of the Rules particularly deals with reinstatement of disbarred lawyers. The Law Librarian read this and other information regarding reinstatement available at the LPRB website, plus several Minnesota Supreme Court Opinions involving reinstatement applications.
Turns out, Minnesota disbarment is not the professional death sentence for lawyers as it is in other states. Indeed, the Law Librarian was left with the impression that if you are a former lawyer living under the shame of disbarment, the Minnesota Supreme Court wants you to ‘fess up your professional sins and shortcomings. It wants you to show that you have cleaned up your act and got whatever professional help you might have needed. In short, it wants to deliver the climactic scene in the feel-good movie of your professional life that completes your career turnaround. (Of course, none of this is cheap or easy, with the biggest cost possibly being all the humiliating details of your downfall permanently published in the pages of the North Western Reporter…)
Minnesota standards for reinstatement are laid out in the case of In re Anderley 696 N.W.2d 380 (2005). An applicant must have “undergone a moral change,” plus these five criteria are considered: 1) recognition that the previous conduct was wrong, 2) the length of time since the misconduct and disbarment; 3) the seriousness of the original misconduct; 4) the attorney’s physical or mental illness or pressures that are susceptible to correction, and 5) the attorney’s intellectual competency to practice law. Id at 383.
What kinds of lawyerly (and not so lawyerly) sins can the Court grant professional redemption for? Mishandling of funds (In re Lieber 2013 WL 3929112), forging documents (Anderley), theft by swindle (In re Ramirez 719 N.W.2d 920 (2006)), and conspiracy to distribute cocaine (In re Trygstad 472 N.W.2d 137 (1991) and In re Reuter 474 N.W.2d 343 (1991)) or marijuana (In re Wegner 417 N.W.2d 97 (1987)) are all offenses which can be forgiven provided the above criteria are met. The Court even reinstated the license of one attorney after the South Dakota Supreme Court refused to do so (Trygstad at 139), and of his former colleague whose story was in direct contradiction with his (Reutter at 345). In conclusion, the Minnesota Supreme Court would appear to encourage disbarred attorneys to repent of their sins and reassemble their ruined lives, so that the Court can then reinstate their licenses. After all, “if disbarment were permanent in all cases, [Rule 18] would be a cruel hoax.” In re Swanson, 343 N.W.2d 662, 664 (Minn. 1984).
This blog entry isn’t to suggest that the reinstatement to the Minnesota Bar is easily achieved- it’s not. But if you have been disbarred and truly want to return to the practice of law, don’t assume that your professional career is permanently destroyed. Minnesota law recognizes your potential to learn from your mistakes and be better the second time around.
Dear Law Librarian– Can you give me some more details in person about reinstatement procedures in MN? If, say, I was to be disbarred in New Mexico for dubious decisions about hiding ill-got funds from some (hey,I’ll admit It) shady clients, would I be able to reinstated in MN? Is there some sort of disbarment reciprocity thing-a-ma-jig between NM and MN? Just wonderin’.
Saul
This situation wouldn’t technically be a reinstatement, unless you previously had a license in Minnesota and it had been revoked for some reason. This would basically be a Minnesota Bar admission question. The Minnesota Court Rules for admission to the bar can be found here.
The only case I could find like you described dealt with an applicant to the Minnesota Bar whose South Carolina license had been suspended for sexual misconduct. The Minnesota Supreme Court denied his admission. (In Re Belino, 478 N.W.2d 507 (1991)). This is a tricky area of law, and you would be wise to consult a professional. There are any number of legal ethics specialists in practice, at least one of whom you’d better call, Saul.