The New Jersey State Bar Association’s Board of Trustees acted on several items at its July 29 meeting.
The trustees voted to support the concept of a potential path for attorneys to be reinstated following disbarment, pending the development of policies and rules on the issue. The position aligns with the NJSBA’s amicus work in In re Wade and others. In that case, it was recommended that Wade be disbarred for knowing misappropriation of client and escrow funds from her attorney trust account. The NJSBA asked the Court to clarify the Wilson automatic disbarment rule to limit its application to situations where there is a clear intent to steal or defraud, as opposed to situations where trust accounting errors or insufficiencies are alleged. While declining to revisit the application of Wilson, the Court called for the exploration of a path for reinstatement, as is permitted in a majority of other states.
The NJSBA’s Putting Lawyers First Task Force recommended that the board formally endorse examining pathways back from disbarment in some situations. Information was also shared with the newly formed state Supreme Court committee tasked with studying disbarment reform in New Jersey. NJSBA President Jeralyn L. Lawrence was selected as a member of that committee in June.
The board also voted to support the following bills in the state legislature:
• A322 Dancer, which would establish a veterans’ affordable housing preference and authorizes bonus fair share credit for veterans’ affordable housing. The board supported the bill and said it would encourage sponsors to add Coast Guard veterans as an eligible group.
• A2549 Murphy / S1353 Turner, a bill that requires consumer reporting agencies to increase protection of consumers’ personal information.
• S2733 Scutari, a bill that authorizes a judge in a worker’s compensation dispute to allow the testimony from the petitioner and other witnesses in lieu of an appearance in open court, with the consent of the parties.
• A4137 Thomson, which would remove the 72-hour waiting period for marriage or civil union licenses.