Opinion ID: 2071422
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: introduction

Text: Clifford T. Lee (Petitioner) seeks reinstatement to the Bar of the District of Columbia. He was disbarred on consent by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on February 14, 1975, after being convicted in July of 1972 of ten counts involving forgery and counterfeiting of government transportation requests and fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 7, 13, and 508, while employed as an attorney in the Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of Labor. His conviction was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. United States v. Lee, 485 F.2d 41 (4th Cir.1973). He was sentenced to two years of incarceration. On March 19, 1990, Petitioner filed a Petition for Reinstatement with this Board. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, on March 6, 1991, ordered the Board to determine whether the crimes underlying Petitioner's disbarment involved moral turpitude. The Board concluded that those crimes did involve moral turpitude per se, and recommended that petitioner be permanently disbarred pursuant to D.C.Code, § 11-2503(a) In re Lee, Bar Docket No. 112-90 (B.P.R. July 12, 1991). In light of the Court of Appeals decision in In re McBride, 602 A.2d 626 (D.C.1992)(en banc), abolishing permanent disbarments in this jurisdiction, Petitioner again petitioned for reinstatement on August 18, 1995.