Case Caption: In re Michael Motylinski, Esq.Case Number: S. Ct. BA No. 2009-0220 and S. Ct. BA. No. 201-0106Date: 02/25/2014Author: Per CuriamCitation: Summary:

In matters previously before this Court, reviewed again pursuant to a December 2, 2013 Memorandum Decision rendered by the Ethics & Grievance Committee of the Virgin Islands Bar Association regarding a former specially admitted member of the Virgin Islands Bar and current applicant for pro hac vice admission, while the attorney is not sanctioned for violating Supreme Court Rule 202 for failure to disclose in his special admission application that he had switched from active to inactive status in Ohio, he continued to represent a private client during a two to three month period while employed as an Assistant Attorney General, in violation of 3 V.I.C. §117. The attorney also violated the applicable provisions of 4 V.I.C. § 443 governing the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands after leaving the office of the Attorney General by holding himself out as a licensed Virgin Islands attorney, using titles to convey that impression, performing acts that can only permissibly be done by a member in good standing of the Virgin Islands Bar such as drafting contracts for a company, preparing reports for an entity with the knowledge that they would be filed with pertinent regulatory agencies, and otherwise ensuring that various legal requirements were satisfied. The attorney's failure to amend his pro hac vice application in the Virgin Islands after the Ohio Supreme Court issued its opinion imposing a six-month stayed suspension was a violation of Model Rule 8.1, admitted by the attorney. The Committee's factual findings and legal conclusions as they pertain to the attorney's ethical violations are accepted and the attorney's application for pro hac vice admission is denied. A sanction is imposed upon the attorney in the form of a six-month stayed suspension as reciprocal discipline for misconduct found by the Supreme Court of Ohio; a one-year suspension for additional misconduct in the Virgin Islands which was not the subject of the Ohio proceedings; a $1,000 fine, and payment of costs.

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