Opinion
05-21-2015
In the Matter of Edward S. COOPER, a Suspended Attorney. Committee on Professional Standards, Petitioner; Edward S. Cooper, Respondent.
Opinion
Motion by Edward S. Cooper for an order waiving the requirement that he take and attain a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as a precondition to his reinstatement to the practice of law (see Matter of Cooper, 124 A.D.3d 1203, 998 N.Y.S.2d 672 [2015] ).
In order to qualify for reinstatement to the practice of law, the rules of this Court require that a suspended or disbarred attorney must take and attain a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (hereinafter MPRE) subsequent to the entry of the order of suspension or disbarment (see Rules of App.Div., 3d Dept. [22 NYCRR] § 806.12 [b] [ii]; see also Rules of App.Div., 1st Dept. [22 NYCRR] § 603.14 [b][3]; Rules of App.Div., 2d Dept. [22 NYCRR] § 691.11 [c][2][i]; Rules of App.Div., 4th Dept. [22 NYCRR] § 1022.28 [a][3]; [b][3]; see generally Rules of Ct. of Appeals [22 NYCRR] § 520.9 ). The MPRE requirement serves two important purposes: it reemphasizes the importance of ethical conduct to attorneys who have been subjected to serious public discipline, and it also reassures the general public that such attorneys have undergone retraining in the field of professional responsibility.
Upon reading Cooper's notice of motion, counsel's affirmation in support dated March 16, 2015 and Cooper's affidavit in support sworn to March 12, 2015, and upon reading the affidavit in response by Alison M. Coan, Principal Attorney for the Committee on Professional Standards, and having concluded that Cooper has not established good cause for the waiver of the MPRE requirement, it is hereby
ORDERED that the motion is denied.
GARRY, J.P., ROSE, LYNCH and CLARK, JJ., concur.