November 21, 2003
EOIR
Announces Latest Disciplinary Actions Under Rules of Professional
Conduct
Four Attorneys Receive Final Orders
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has taken disciplinary action against four attorneys after charging them with violations of the rules of professional conduct for immigration practitioners. These rules appear in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (8 CFR Parts 3 and 292). The attorneys’ violations arose either out of sanctions imposed by other jurisdictions or a criminal conviction.
Disciplinary proceedings began in each case with a Notice of Intent to Discipline filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) by the Office of the General Counsel of either EOIR or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The BIA required each attorney to respond to the alleged violations. In the first three cases, a Petition for Immediate Suspension also was filed, and the BIA ordered those attorneys to be suspended immediately from practice before the Immigration Courts, the BIA, and the DHS. (DHS joined EOIR in taking the disciplinary action.)
Final Orders of Discipline
An Assistant Chief Immigration Judge issued a Final Order of Discipline against the following attorney:
The BIA issued Final Orders of Discipline against the following attorneys:
Summary
In each of the disciplinary matters cited above,
the disciplined attorney was directed to notify promptly, in writing, any
clients with cases currently pending before the BIA, the Immigration Courts, or
the DHS that he may no longer represent clients before these tribunals.
The Rules of Professional Conduct include provisions specifying grounds for disciplinary action, requirements for receiving and investigating complaints, and procedures for conducting hearings. The Rules also authorize the BIA to immediately suspend a practitioner who has been subject to disbarment, suspension, or resignation with an admission of misconduct as imposed by a state or Federal court, or who has been convicted of a serious crime, pending a summary proceeding and final sanction. They are available on the EOIR Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/fedreg/2000_2001/fr27jn00R.pdf.
EOIR announces these disciplinary actions to inform the public about practitioners who are not authorized to represent any matter before an immigration tribunal. EOIR also posts a "List of Suspended and Expelled Practitioners" on its Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir (near the bottom of EOIR's home page).
Additional information about the Attorney Discipline Program can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/00/profcond.htm and http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/press/00/profcondfaks.htm on the EOIR Web site.
EOIR is a component of the Department of Justice which, on behalf of the Attorney General, adjudicates cases involving aliens who are charged with immigration violations. EOIR has more than 220 Immigration Judges located in 52 Immigration Courts nationwide to conduct proceedings and decide individual cases, the BIA to hear appeals of Immigration Judge decisions, and the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer to handle employment‑related immigration matters.
– EOIR –
Contact: | Public Affairs Office |
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Internet: | www.usdoj.gov/eoir |