Opinion ID: 1258
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Deficient Briefing

Text: The Committee has reviewed all of the briefs cited in the referral order, and finds that Roman filed defective briefs in at least three cases in 2006 and 2007. In Kaur v. BIA, 03-4699-ag, Roman's brief failed to address the central issues identified by the Immigration Judge below and included a claim under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) that was not raised before the IJ and therefore had not been exhausted. In his Response, Roman apologized with regard to inclusion of the CAT claim, stating I sincerely apologize to the Court for having included [the CAT claim] and would like to point out that this was a one time isolated incident and human error.... It was an oversight for which I am sorry for [sic] and assure that it will never happen again. Response, at 27. In Kaur v. BIA, No. 06-1491-ag, Roman recycled boilerplate from other briefs, erroneously referred to the female petitioner using male pronouns, referred to persecution by the Punjab police though the petitioner was not from Punjab, and used the term BIA to refer to the Court. According to Roman, these mistakes were caused by haste and human error, and did not prejudice the petitioner, whose case was remanded in part to the BIA for further proceedings. Response, at 35-36. In Mehmi v. Gonzales, No. 06-3471-ag, Roman failed to address the extensive and detailed concerns raised in the IJ decision that was subsequently adopted and supplemented by the BIA. According to Roman, his failure to do so was caused by the fact that he relied upon an incorrect statement by the BIA, and he cannot be faulted for basing his brief upon the BIA's mistake. Response, at 31-32. Roman's response does not acknowledge that he was responsible for addressing both the BIA and the IJ opinions in his brief. See Mehmi, No. 06-3471-ag (2d Cir. Aug. 16, 2007) ([T]his Court reviews the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA.). Based upon the Court's decision, it appears that Roman's client may have been significantly prejudiced by this omission. Id. (As an initial matter, the Government correctly notes that Petitioner never challenged the IJ's discretionary denial of asylum before the BIA. Nor has Petitioner raised this issue in his brief to this Court. Therefore, we deem any challenge to such denial abandoned.). At the hearing, Roman stated that he had not personally prepared the briefs cited in Referral Order I. Tr. 61:23-62:9. In fact, these briefs were drafted either by Mr. Singh or his assistant. Tr. 64:2-64:5. Roman said that he had reviewed such briefs in order to submit his response to the Committee, and concluded that some of the language was subpar in the briefs that Roman had not prepared or reviewed prior to filing with the Court. Tr. 64:6-64:16. Now that Roman personally handles all of the Second Circuit cases for which he is counsel of record, he reviews and marks up each and every brief before it is filed. Tr. 62:17-62:22. He also instructs the associate who drafts the briefs as to case strategy, format, and appropriate issues to be addressed at the appellate review stage. Tr. 62:22-63:22. Roman believes that, under the new system, the briefs filed before the Court have been of a far superior quality to those cited in the referral order. Id. The Committee has reviewed a sampling of the briefs filed by Roman in 2008 and finds that Roman's latest briefs demonstrate significant improvement upon the defective briefs described supra, and do not exhibit any of the briefing errors cited in the Court's referral order. Nevertheless, Roman is responsible for his failure to properly supervise the work of the attorneys in his office with regard to the preparation and filing of the deficient briefs. DR 1-104(B) &(C). The aggravating factors concerning Roman's submission of deficient briefs include: (1) Roman's prior disciplinary sanctions before the Ninth Circuit on the basis of deficient briefing, (2) Roman's filing of deficient briefs on multiple occasions, and (3) the vulnerability of Roman's immigrant clients. ABA Standards § 9.22(a), (d) & (h). The mitigating factors present are (1) absence of a dishonest or selfish motive, (2) a cooperative attitude towards these proceedings, and (3) Roman's remorse. ABA Standards § 9.32(b), (e) & ( l ).