Case Title: IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF WAID

Citation: 

Docket Number: SCBD-5659

State: oklahoma

Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Date: 2011-05-31T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF WAID  IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF WAID 2011 OK 48 Case Number: SCBD-5659 Decided: 05/31/2011 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA FOR PUBLICATION IN OBJ ONLY. NOT RELEASED FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. In the Matter of the Reinstatement of AMBER LEE WAID (WADE) to Membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association. Petitioner. ORDER ¶1 Amber Lee Waid has petitioned this Court for Reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) pursuant to Rule 11, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S.2001, Ch. 1, App. 1-A (RGDP). After a preliminary review, a Trial Panel of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal (PRT) directed the parties to file briefs on the applicability of In the Matter of the Reinstatement of Mooreland-Rucker, ¶2 At the hearing before the PRT, Petitioner testified she moved to Alabama with her husband in June 2004 to be close to their families. She also relayed that prior to the move, she had recently had a baby. Petitioner stated that she thought the move to Alabama was permanent, so did not continue to pay her OBA dues or complete Oklahoma CLE. This resulted in Petitioner being administratively suspended for non-payment of dues and non-compliance of mandatory CLE requirements, and stricken from the roll of Oklahoma attorneys on September 11, 2006. ¶3 Petitioner further testified that she returned to Oklahoma in October 2007, because she and her husband decided that it was the best place to rear their four-year-old daughter and for her to attend school. Petitioner was initially employed in Oklahoma by West Publishing as an editor. In January 2010, Petitioner began working for a Tulsa law firm handling Social Security Disability claims before the Social Security Administration. She has stated that the reinstatement of her license would allow her to represent clients through the appeals process in the courts. ¶4 Upon careful consideration of the matter, we find the record shows by clear and convincing evidence the following: 1. Petitioner is a graduate of the University of Tulsa College of Law. She was admitted to OBA membership and licensed to practice law in Oklahoma in October, 2001, under her maiden name, Amber Lee Wade. She thereafter married and took the name Amber Lee Waid. Petitioner was admitted to the Northern and Western United States Districts of Oklahoma in 2002. 2. Petitioner resided and practiced law in Oklahoma from her admission date until 2003. She was admitted by examination in Alabama in 2005, has complied with Alabama CLE requirements, and remains in good standing with the Alabama Bar. Petitioner was administratively stricken from the roll of Oklahoma attorneys on September 11, 2006, for non-payment of dues and non-compliance of mandatory CLE requirements, but was not the subject of any disciplinary investigation or proceeding. 3. Petitioner possesses the good moral character entitling her to be admitted to the OBA. 4. Petitioner has not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Oklahoma or any other State during the period of her administrative suspension. (See 20 C.F.R. § 416.1505(b), which allows persons other than attorneys to represent claimants before the Social Security Administration.) 5. Petitioner has kept abreast of developments of the law and possesses the competency and learning in the law required for admission to practice in Oklahoma. 6. Petitioner has not filed a petition for reinstatement to the OBA during the one year period immediately preceding the instant petition's date. 7. The OBA has incurred $746.30 in reimbursable costs in this matter. The record shows that Petitioner has paid OBA membership dues and late penalties through June 10, 2010. Petitioner is further responsible for paying OBA membership dues for the current year. 8. Petitioner has satisfied the procedural requirements for reinstatement. She has complied with notice requirements of Rules 11.1(a) and 11.3(b), RGDP; and no objections to her reinstatement were received. 9. Petitioner's Petition for Reinstatement should be approved. ¶5 In that Petitioner has met her burden of proof to show by clear and convincing evidence, each of the prerequisites to reinstatement found in Rule 11.5, RGDP, it is therefore ORDERED that Amber Lee Waid be reinstated to the Roll of Attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Oklahoma. ¶6 It is also ORDERED that Petitioner shall pay the OBA current year membership dues along with any penalties incurred, and costs of this proceeding in the amount of $746.30, within ninety (90) days from the date this Order is filed with the Clerk of this Court. ¶7 It is also ORDERED that reinstatement is conditioned upon Petitioner's payment to the OBA of the amounts specified above. ¶8 DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT IN CONFERENCE THIS 31st DAY OF MAY, 2011. /S/VICE CHIEF JUSTICE ¶9 COLBERT, V.C.J., KAUGER, WINCHESTER, EDMONDSON, REIF, and GURICH, JJ., concur. ¶10 WATT, J., concurs in result. ¶11 TAYLOR, C.J., and COMBS, J., dissent.