Matter of Cooper

Matter of Cooper 2015 NY Slip Op 04378 Decided on May 21, 2015 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided and Entered: May 21, 2015

[*1]In the Matter of EDWARD S. COOPER, a Suspended Attorney. COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS, ON MOTION Petitioner; EDWARD S. COOPER, Respondent. (Attorney Registration No. 2842235)


Before: Garry, J.P., Rose, Lynch and Clark, JJ.

Per Curiam

Motion by Edward S. Cooper for an order waiving the requirement that he take and attain a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as a precondition to his reinstatement to the practice of law (see Matter of Cooper, 124 AD3d 1203 [2015]). In order to qualify for reinstatement to the practice of law, the rules of this Court require that a suspended or disbarred attorney must take and attain a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (hereinafter MPRE) subsequent to the entry of the order of suspension or disbarment (see Rules of App Div, 3d Dept [22 NYCRR] § 806.12 [b] [ii]; see also Rules of App Div, 1st Dept [22 NYCRR] § 603.14 [b] [3]; Rules of App Div, 2d Dept [22 NYCRR] § 691.11 [c] [2] [i]; Rules of App Div, 4th Dept [22 NYCRR] § 1022.28 [a] [3]; [b] [3]; see generally Rules of Ct of Appeals [22 NYCRR] § 520.9). The MPRE requirement serves two important purposes: it reemphasizes the importance of ethical conduct to attorneys who have been subjected to serious public discipline, and it also reassures the general public that such attorneys have undergone retraining in the field of professional responsibility. Upon reading Cooper's notice of motion, counsel's affirmation in support dated March 16, 2015 and Cooper's affidavit in support sworn to March 12, 2015, and upon reading the affidavit in response by Alison M. Coan, Principal Attorney for the Committee on Professional Standards, and having concluded that Cooper has not established good cause for the waiver of the MPRE requirement, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is denied. Garry, J.P., Rose, Lynch and Clark, JJ., concur.