Nelson LAC v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC

Filing 150

ORDER signed by District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 8/10/2017 ORDERING the court DISCHARGES its 9/6/2016 suspension order. ECF No. 120 . Unless or until the California State Bar grants Bolanos the right to practice law again, however, he may not appear as an attorney in this court. (Reader, L)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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No. 2:15-cv-00523-KJM-DB

NELSON LAC,
Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.
NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE, LLC,
Defendant.

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This matter is before the court on the second request by plaintiff’s former counsel,

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Aldon Bolanos, for reinstatement to practice in this district. ECF No. 139. On September 3,

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2016, this court suspended Bolanos from practice in this district for a minimum of sixty days.

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Order Sept. 6, 2016, ECF No. 120.

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On December 8, 2016, the court denied Bolanos’s first request for reinstatement

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because the request did not include the required sworn pre-reinstatement declaration, the request

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was vague and unsupported, and the core reason for the request appeared moot. Order, Dec. 8,

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2016, ECF No. 135. As discussed below, Bolanos’s second reinstatement request complies with

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the court’s instructions and the court therefore discharges its suspension order, while noting that

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this discharge does not render Bolanos eligible to practice law in this district or elsewhere given

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his pending State Bar disciplinary matters.
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I.

DISCUSSION
Bolanos’s suspension was a sanction in response to his consistent violations of the

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local rules and standards of professional conduct. See generally ECF No. 120. The suspension

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order expressly required that before Bolanos can be reinstated, the court must accept his pre-

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reinstatement declaration that explains steps he has taken to familiarize himself with this court’s

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local rules and all other rules of professional conduct applicable to practicing attorneys. Id. at 2.

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To support his second request for reinstatement, Bolanos filed a sworn affidavit,

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ECF No. 136, and an ex parte application for reinstatement accompanied by another affidavit,

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ECF No. 139. In his affidavits, Bolanos explains that during his suspension he “print[ed],

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b[ou]nd, and read, cover to cover, all of the Eastern District’s Local Rules” and the Federal Rules

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of Civil Procedure and California Rules of Professional Conduct. ECF No. 136 ¶¶ 2, 4. He also

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explains his newfound understanding of Rule 11’s prohibition on allowing another attorney to file

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documents using his credentials, and he declares he took and passed the State Bar’s court on legal

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ethics. Id. ¶¶ 3-4.

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Bolanos has complied with the requirements of this court’s suspension order: He

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filed a sworn declaration identifying what actions he took to familiarize himself with relevant

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rules of procedure and ethics. Accordingly, the court DISCHARGES its September 6, 2016

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suspension order. ECF No. 120. Unless or until the California State Bar grants Bolanos the right

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to practice law again, however, he may not appear as an attorney in this court. See Case No.

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15-O-10896, Aldon Bolanos #233915 Attorney Profile, The State Bar of California, available at

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http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/233915 (reflecting Bolanos’s ineligibility to

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practice law in California as of June 12, 2017) (last visited August 9, 2017).

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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This order resolves ECF No. 139.

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DATED: August 10, 2017.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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