Opinion
03-23-2017
In the Matter of Diana Jacobs LEE, an Attorney. (Attorney Registration No. 2811891).
Diana Jacobs Lee, Columbia, Maryland, pro se. Monica A. Duffy, Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Albany, for Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department.
Diana Jacobs Lee, Columbia, Maryland, pro se.
Monica A. Duffy, Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Albany, for Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department.
Before: GARRY, J.P., EGAN JR., ROSE, DEVINE and AARONS, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Diana Jacobs Lee was admitted to practice by this Court in 1997 and lists a business address in Annapolis Junction, Maryland with the Office of Court Administration. By undated application filed with this Court on June 24, 2016, Lee now seeks leave to resign from the New York bar for nondisciplinary reasons (see Uniform Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.22 [a] ). By correspondence from its Chief Attorney, the Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department (hereinafter AGC) opposes Lee's application due to its improper form.
At the time that Lee applied to resign, this Court required that such an application be made by sworn affidavit, a requirement that has been continued in the now-applicable Uniform Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters and the companion Rules of this Court (see Uniform Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.22 [a][1]; Rules of App.Div., 3d Dept. [22 NYCRR] § 806.22 [a] ). Lee's application here is not in affidavit form, much less in the specific form now required under the Uniform Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters. Moreover, the statements set forth by Lee give no indication that they were made under circumstances "calculated to awaken the conscience and impress the mind of [Lee] in accordance with [her] religious or ethical beliefs" (CPLR 2309[b] ; see Collins v. AA Truck Renting Corp., 209 A.D.2d 363, 618 N.Y.S.2d 801 [1994] ). In addition to being unsworn and not executed before a notary, her statements give no assurance that they were made in contemplation of their legal significance or Lee's obligation to tell the truth (compare Matter of Sinnis, 148 A.D.3d 1350, 47 N.Y.S.3d 924 [2017] ; Matter of Cochran, 148 A.D.3d 1347, 47 N.Y.S.3d 920 [2017] ; Matter of Suplee, 146 A.D.3d 1224, 1224, 44 N.Y.S.3d 780 [2017] ). Under the circumstances presented, we cannot excuse the defective form of Lee's application and, accordingly, such application must be denied.
ORDERED that Diana Jacobs Lee's application for permission to resign is denied.