In re Liu

282 F. App'x 7
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 27, 2008
DocketNo. 07-9065-am
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 282 F. App'x 7 (In re Liu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Liu, 282 F. App'x 7 (2d Cir. 2008).

Opinion

ORDER

By prior order of this panel, Frank R. Liu was ordered to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for his deficient briefing and his failure to comply with this Court’s scheduling orders. In his response to our order, Liu stated, inter alia, that his deficient performance stemmed from his inexperience and unfamiliarity with the applicable rules, his heavy caseload as a solo practitioner, and the pressing deadlines in his various cases. Liu also stated that he has referred his remaining cases in this Court to an attorney who has experience with immigration appeals, and that he will refrain from representing parties in appeals without the assistance of an attorney with such experience.

Upon due consideration, it is hereby ORDERED that Liu be, and hereby is, PUBLICLY CENSURED for the conduct described in this panel’s prior order in this matter. We find that a reasonable person in Liu’s position would have familiarized himself with the applicable rules and known that his briefs did not satisfy various important Rule 28 requirements; that his behavior put his client’s interests in significant peril; and that his briefing deficiencies and his scheduling defaults caused significant inconvenience to the judges and staff of this Court. Although the conduct described in our prior order generally would warrant a significantly greater sanction, we conclude that a lesser sanction is appropriate in light of the circumstances described in Liu’s response to that order and the other corrective measures noted in the following paragraph. Cf. In re Flannery, 186 F.3d 143, 145-46 (2d Cir.1999) [8]*8(detailing sanction policy for attorneys who fail to file briefs in criminal appeals).

It is further ORDERED that, until further notice of this panel, Liu:

(a) not file any new cases in this Court, or additional documents in current cases, unless an experienced appellate attorney appears as co-counsel;
(b) notify this panel, under this caption and docket number, of every case in this Court in which he is performing legal services, even if not as attorney of record, within ten days of the filing of the document commencing the ease or, where the case was filed prior to his retention, within ten days of his retention; and
(c) provide this panel with a copy of every future brief, motion for an extension of time to file a brief, and motion to reinstate an appeal he files in this Court, within ten days of the filing of the brief or motion.

Liu is warned that any future deficient performance in this Court may result in the imposition of further disciplinary or other corrective measures, including, but not limited to, monetary sanctions, suspension, or disbarment. We strongly encourage Liu to attend continuing legal education classes in the areas of appellate practice, legal writing, and immigration law if he intends to bring any future appeals or continue his immigration law practice.

Finally, we note that, in Zhe Xu v. Mukasey, No. 06-0012-ag, which is Liu’s only currently pending case in this Court, Liu’s brief does not comply with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28. For example, the briefs background section does not include citations to the administrative record, and the discussion section does not include any application of law to fact. See id., brief filed Oct. 17, 2006. By separate order entered in that appeal, we instruct Liu to file an amended brief.

The Clerk of Court is directed to release this order to the public by posting it on this Court’s web site and providing copies to members of the public in the same manner as all other unpublished decisions of this Court. The text of this Panel’s prior order in this proceeding requiring Liu to show cause why disciplinary or other corrective measures should not be imposed on him, and Liu’s response to that order, are also to be released to the public, as. Appendices 1 and 2 to the present order.

APPENDIX 1

Text of prior order requiring Frank Liu to show cause why disciplinary or other corrective measures should not be imposed on him

For the reasons that follow, Frank Liu is ordered to show cause why disciplinary or other corrective measures, including disbarment or suspension from this Court’s bar, should not be imposed on him, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 46(b) and (c) and Second Circuit Local Rule 46.

In this Court’s April 2006 order disposing of the appeal in Qiao Ying Zheng v. Ashcroft [Gonzales], 04-4577-ag [179 Fed. Appx. 84], the Court noted that Liu’s “carelessly-written appellate brief’ for the petitioner in that case did not comply with various provisions of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28, and warned Liu that “future failure to comply with the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure could result in discipline.” Qiao Ying Zheng, 04-4577-ag, order filed Apr. 27, 2006, at 5 [179 Fed.Appx. at 87]. Specifically, the Court stated that

although [Liu] properly identifie[d] the legal standards, he [did] not apply those [9]*9standards to Zheng’s claim other than by providing merely conelusory statements. Additionally, the brief erroneously states that Zheng “clearly violated the widely-publicized coercive population control practices by the Chinese government by extending protection to her pregnant cousin,” a statement that is not supported by any evidence in the record, and reflects a perfunctory use of prior briefs.

Id.) see also Xiu Zhen Chen v. Gonzales, 04-4033-ag, order filed June 5, 2006, at 4 and n. 2 [184 Fed.Appx. 110, 112 and n. 2] (finding claim under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) both unexhausted and “not meaningfully raise[d]” in this Court due to Liu’s conelusory analysis and failure to provide a supporting argument); Jingchi Jiang v. Gonzales, 04-5245-ag, order filed Aug. 1, 2006, at 3 [190 Fed.Appx. 92, 94] (“Although Jiang mentions the denial of his CAT claim in his brief, he does not make any arguments as to why the IJ’s finding was erroneous. Accordingly, this single sentence is insufficient to raise an issue and his CAT claim is waived.”); Qimin Weng v. Gonzales, 05-5017-ag, brief filed Jan. 6, 2006, at 14 (presenting a single, conelusory sentence in support of argument that immigration judge had improperly denied CAT claim); Mei Qi Zou v. Gonzales, 04-3628-ag, brief filed Mar. 18, 2005, order filed Dec. 1, 2005 [157 Fed.Appx. 369] (although brief only challenged immigration judge’s denial of CAT claim, and waived all other claims, no evidence in support of the CAT claim had been presented in petitioner’s asylum application or his hearing before the immigration judge).

After the issuance of this Court’s April 2006 warning in Qiao Ying Zheng, Liu continued to file flawed briefs, which were characterized by panels of this Court as “carelessly written,” “seriously deficient,” conelusory, and not in compliance with the rules governing appellants’ briefs. Xiu Yan Chen v. Gonzales, 05-2949-ag, brief filed Oct. 3, 2006, order filed Feb.

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Related

In re Liu
113 A.D.3d 85 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2013)
In Re Roman
601 F.3d 189 (Second Circuit, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
282 F. App'x 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-liu-ca2-2008.