Opinion ID: 1860370
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: exception of lack of jurisdiction

Text: It is well settled that this court has exclusive and plenary power to define and regulate all facets of the practice of law, including the admission of attorneys to the bar. Bester v. Louisiana Supreme Court Comm. on Bar Admissions, 00-1360 (La.2/21/01), 779 So.2d 715; In re Bar Exam Class Action, 99-2880 (La.2/18/00), 752 So.2d 159; Succession of Wallace, 574 So.2d 348, 350 (La.1991); Ex Parte Steckler, 179 La. 410, 154 So. 41 (1934). Pursuant to that authority, we adopted Rule 8.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which places an explicit duty on an applicant for admission to the bar to refrain from knowingly making false statements of material fact on an application for admission and to disclose facts necessary to correct any misapprehensions arising in such a matter. The comments to Rule 8.1 provide, in pertinent part: The duty imposed by this Rule extends to persons seeking admission to the bar as well as lawyers. Hence, if a person makes a material false statement in connection with an application for admission, it may be the basis for subsequent disciplinary action if the person is admitted... The obvious purpose for this disclosure requirement is to provide this court with the information it needs to make an informed determination of whether the applicant possesses sufficient character and fitness to be admitted to the practice of law in this state. Information relating to an applicant's employment, especially the applicant's employment in a legal setting, is particularly relevant. Supreme Court Rule XVII, § 5(C) indicates an applicant's misconduct in employment and commission of an act constituting the unauthorized practice of law are factors to be considered in determining whether an applicant possesses the requisite character and fitness to be admitted to the bar. Clearly, this court has jurisdiction to discipline a lawyer when it is subsequently determined the lawyer deprived this court in the bar admission process of vital information relative to whether the individual possessed the necessary character and fitness for admission. To hold otherwise would encourage applicants to withhold information during the application process. Our review of the jurisprudence of our sister states indicates they have reached similar conclusions. See Matter of Cherryhomes, 115 N.M. 734, 858 P.2d 401 (1993) (New Mexico Supreme Court indefinitely suspended an attorney who, among other things, forged a physician's signature on a certificate of fitness required by the bar application process in another state); Matter of Rosen, 570 A.2d 728 (D.C.App.1989) (nine-month suspension from practice imposed on an attorney for failure to supplement his Maryland bar application to indicate he was under investigation for professional misconduct in another state where he was admitted to practice); Matter of Scavone, 106 N.J. 542, 524 A.2d 813 (1987) (attorney disbarred for falsely indicating on his bar application that he had never been subjected to disciplinary action or asked to withdraw from an educational institution, when the attorney was removed from a law school); In re: Chandler, 161 Ill.2d 459, 204 Ill.Dec. 249, 641 N.E.2d 473 (1994) (three-year suspension imposed on an attorney who failed to disclose on her bar application that she provided false information on a mortgage loan application, as well as misstated her social security number in her bar application); State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Flanery, 863 P.2d 1146 (Okla.1993) (disbarment imposed on an attorney for embezzlement of $71,000 from family members prior to admission to the bar); Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Zdrok, 538 Pa. 41, 645 A.2d 830 (1994) (attorney suspended for six months for pre-admission conduct of criminal loitering). Accordingly, we see no merit to the exception of lack of jurisdiction and therefore deny it.