Matter of Castro


Matter of Castro (2021 NY Slip Op 07053) Matter of Castro 2021 NY Slip Op 07053 Decided on December 16, 2021 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided and Entered:December 16, 2021 PM-178-21 [*1]In the Matter of William Castro, a Disbarred Attorney. Committee on Professional Standards, Now Known as Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Petitioner; William Castro, Respondent. (Attorney Registration No. 2330074.) Calendar Date:October 18, 2021 Before:Garry, P.J., Lynch, Clark, Pritzker and Reynolds Fitzgerald, JJ. Monica A. Duffy, Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Albany (Alison M. Coan of counsel), for petitioner. William Castro, Miami, Florida, respondent pro se. Per Curiam. Respondent was admitted to practice by this Court in 1990 and was also previously admitted in Florida in 1981. By June 1995 order of this Court, respondent's name was stricken from the roll of attorneys in this state upon his conviction of multiple federal felonies (216 AD2d 782 [1995]). Specifically, respondent had been convicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida of multiple counts of mail fraud, one count of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering in connection with a kickback scheme involving a Florida Circuit Court Judge (see United States v Castro, 89 F3d 1443 [11th Cir 1996], cert denied 519 US 1118 [1997]). In November 1998, the Supreme Court of Florida disbarred respondent for a 10-year period nunc pro tunc to May 1994 when he was first suspended for his criminal conduct (The Florida Bar v Castro, 728 So 2d 205 [Fla 1998]). Respondent eventually sought his reinstatement in Florida, and his motion was unsuccessful (Florida Bd. of Bar Examiners re Castro, 87 So 3d 699 [Fla 2012], cert denied 568 US 932 [2012]). Respondent now moves for his reinstatement in this state (see Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.16 [a]; Rules of App Div, 3d Dept [22 NYCRR] § 806.16 [a]). Petitioner submitted an affirmation in opposition to the motion and respondent thereafter submitted a reply to that opposition. Based upon our review of the parties' submissions, we referred respondent's application to a subcommittee of the Committee on Character and Fitness for a recorded interview and report pursuant to Rules of the Appellate Division, Third Department (22 NYCRR) § 806.16 (a) (5). The subcommittee issued its full report in September 2021, in which the majority recommends denial of the motion and the dissenting member recommends that respondent be reinstated. Respondent has submitted his response to the report, and with no further submissions forthcoming, the matter is now ripe for our disposition. Initially, we find that respondent has met his threshold burden of submitting the required documentation in support of his application, including proof that he has successfully completed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination within one year preceding his application (see Rules for Attorney Disciplinary …

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