Opinion ID: 1711209
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Demonstrate requisite legal education to be reinstated.

Text: ¶ 19. Flautt sat for the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) on November 8, 2002, which was more than three years from the October 1, 1999, date on which the Complaint Tribunal rendered its decision to suspend Flautt for three years. He achieved a scaled score of 126, when only a scaled score of 80 was required to meet the condition for reinstatement imposed by the Complaint Tribunal. He attended two Continuing Legal Education courses in November, 2002 and March, 2003, and regularly reads the opinions of this Court and the Court of Appeals. ¶ 20. The Mississippi Bar has recommended that Flautt be required to take the complete bar examination as a condition of reinstatement. However, we decline to impose that requirement here. Although Rule 12 requires disbarred attorneys to take and pass the complete bar examination, it only requires suspended attorneys to take and pass the MPRE. We see no reason to impose this greater requirement on Flautt. ¶ 21. This requirement has been fully met. ¶ 22. It is apparent that the five requirements of Rule 12 overlap, to a large extent, with the three specific conditions imposed upon Flautt by the Complaint Tribunal. There is ample evidence in the record before us to determine that Flautt has complied with two of the three specific conditions: (1) he took the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam and scored higher than the scaled score of 80 required of him; and (2) he continued counseling from Dr. Hargrove, and continued to receive treatment by his family physician, Dr. Hobbs, and provided a statement from them that he had reached maximum medical recovery. However, condition (3) has not been met, and cannot be met, unless and until Flautt resumes his law practice. That condition is that he must open a new trust/escrow account for conducting his law practice and to submit the monthly bank statements for that account to the Mississippi Bar's General Counsel for his or her review for a period of twelve months following his reinstatement and resumption of the practice of law. ¶ 23. The Mississippi Bar conditionally supports Flautt's reinstatement to membership in the Mississippi Bar and the reissuance of his license to practice law in this State, listing five suggested conditions. We agree with the conditions which track those mentioned above: namely, continued participation in an appropriate support program, and compliance with the post-reinstatement requirements of the Complaint Tribunal. We decline to impose the conditions regarding taking the complete bar examination, obtaining further physical and psychological examinations, and inviting letters of recommendation from judges. ¶ 24. This Court thus directs that Flautt shall be reinstated and that he shall establish and manage his trust/escrow account in compliance with the Tribunal's Judgment. If for any reason he fails to comply with this final condition, he shall be subject to further disciplinary action.