In re: STEPHEN YAGMAN, No. 07-80153 (9th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this CaseRespondent, was ordered suspended from practice before this court based on the State Bar of California’s suspension following his federal conviction. He was permitted to file a petition for reinstatement if he were reinstated to practice law in California. Respondent was reinstated to practice law in California, but the Ninth Circuit held that he failed to meet his burden to justify reinstatement before this court because he was still disbarred from practice before the New York State Bar. The court held that an attorney cannot justify reinstatement while he or she is currently suspended or disbarred in another jurisdiction, provided that the other jurisdiction had independent, nonreciprocal reasons for imposing discipline. Here, New York independently determined that Respondent’s federal felony conviction constituted grounds for automatic disbarment under its precedent.
Court Description: Attorney Reinstatement. The panel denied without prejudice the request of Stephen Yagman for reinstatement to the bar of the Ninth Circuit following his readmission to the State Bar of California. In 2008, Yagman was ordered suspended from practice before this court based on the State Bar of California’s suspension following his federal conviction. He was permitted to file a petition for reinstatement if he were reinstated to practice law in California. Yagman was reinstated to practice law in California, but the panel held that he failed to meet his burden to justify reinstatement before this court because he was still disbarred from practice before the New York State Bar. The panel held that an attorney cannot justify reinstatement while he or she is currently suspended or disbarred in another jurisdiction, provided that the other jurisdiction had independent, non- reciprocal reasons for imposing discipline. Here, New York independently determined that Yagman’s federal felony conviction constituted grounds for automatic disbarment under its precedent. Dissenting, Judge Berzon wrote that she would defer to the considered conclusion of California and grant Yagman’s motion for reinstatement to the bar of the Ninth Circuit because no rule of this court provided that it was not enough for Yagman to show that he was reinstated to the California IN RE YAGMAN 3 bar when he remained disbarred from practicing law in New York, and Judge Berzon saw no reason for the panel in its discretion to require Yagman to demonstrate reinstatement in New York before being reinstated to the Ninth Circuit bar.
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