2013 Investigative Summary 10

Investigation of Alleged Failure to Maintain Active Bar Membership

A DOJ component informed OPR that a DOJ attorney had not maintained an active bar membership for an extended period of time because she registered only as an “inactive” member of the bar, and that she had repeatedly certified to the Department that she was an active member of a state bar, when she was not. According to the DOJ attorney, she believed that “inactive” was the correct membership category for an attorney in her situation under the rules of her state bar, and that she was in compliance with the Department’s bar membership requirements.

OPR conducted an investigation and found that the DOJ attorney’s belief that she was authorized to practice law while maintaining an inactive bar status, while perhaps genuinely held, was objectively unreasonable. OPR concluded that the DOJ attorney engaged in professional misconduct by acting in reckless disregard of her obligations imposed by Department policy, statute, and bar rules when she failed to be authorized to practice law by maintaining an active bar membership in at least one state bar; repeatedly and inaccurately certified on the Department’s bar certification forms that she was an active member of a state bar; and engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

Because the DOJ attorney was no longer employed by the Department, OPR made no recommendation regarding discipline and referred the matter to the PMRU to make a determination as to whether bar disciplinary authorities should be notified of OPR’s findings.