In the Matter of the Application of Maureen Madera Garcia for Special Admission to the VI Bar

2025 V.I. 22

• Court: Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands
• Decided: November 6, 2025
• Docket: SCT-BA-2025-0063
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

In the matter of the application of: S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063

MAUREEN MADERA GARCIA

For special admission to the Virgin Islands Bar.

NOTICE OF ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT/ORDER

TO: Justices of the Supreme Court Judges and Magistrate Judges of the Superior Court Judges and Magistrate Judges of the District Court Vonetta Norman, Esq. Maureen Madera Garcia, Applicant for Special Admission Janelle Browne, Director of Bar Admissions Hinda Carbon, Executive Director, V.I. Bar Association Tanisha Bailey-Roka, Esq., Chief Disciplinary Counsel Simone R.D. Francis, Esq., Chair, Board on Professional Responsibility Diane Russell, Esq., Chair, Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Dalila Patton, Esq., Acting Clerk of the Supreme Court Tamara Charles, Clerk of the Superior Court Supreme Court Law Clerks Supreme Court Secretaries Order Book Westlaw Lexis/Michie

Please take notice that on November 6, 2025 a(n) Order date November 6, 2025 was entered by the Clerk in the above-entitled matter.

Dated: November 6, 2025

DALILA E. PATTON, ESQ. Acting Clerk of the Court

By: /s/ Reisha Corneiro____ Deputy Clerk II For Publication

In the matter of the application of: ) S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 ) MAUREEN MADERA GARCIA ) ) For special admission to the Virgin Islands Bar. ) )

On Application for Special Admission to the Virgin Islands Bar

Considered and Filed: November 6, 2025

BEFORE: RHYS S. HODGE, Chief Justice; MARIA M. CABRET, Associate Justice; IVE ARLINGTON SWAN, Associate Justice; and HAROLD W.L. WILLOCKS, Associate Justice.

JUDGMENT PER CURIAM.

AND NOW, consistent with the Opinion of even date, it is hereby

ORDERED that the motion for the special admission of Maureen Madera Garcia is

DENIED. It is further

ORDERED that this matter is HEREBY REFERRED to the Office of Disciplinary

Counsel, the Board on Professional Responsibility, and the Board on the Unauthorized Practice of

Law for further disciplinary proceedings against Madera Garcia and others as appropriate.

SO ORDERED this 6th day of November, 2025.

ATTEST:

DALILA PATTON, ESQ. Acting Clerk of the Court

By: /s/ Reisha Corneiro Deputy Clerk II

Dated: November 6, 2025 In re M. Madera Garcia S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Judgment Page 2 of 2

Copies (with accompanying Opinion of the Court) to: Justices of the Supreme Court Judges and Magistrate Judges of the Superior Court Judges and Magistrate Judges of the District Court Vonetta Norman, Esq. Maureen Madera Garcia, Applicant for Special Admission Janelle Browne, Director of Bar Admissions Hinda Carbon, Executive Director, V.I. Bar Association Tanisha Bailey-Roka, Esq., Chief Disciplinary Counsel Simone R.D. Francis, Esq., Chair, Board on Professional Responsibility Diane Russell, Esq., Chair, Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law Dalila Patton, Esq., Acting Clerk of the Supreme Court Tamara Charles, Clerk of the Superior Court Supreme Court Law Clerks Supreme Court Secretaries Order Book Westlaw Lexis/Michie For Publication

In the matter of the application of: ) S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 ) MAUREEN MADERA GARCIA ) ) For special admission to the Virgin Islands Bar. ) )

On Application for Special Admission to the Virgin Islands Bar

BEFORE: RHYS S. HODGE, Chief Justice; MARIA M. CABRET, Associate Justice; IVE ARLINGTON SWAN, Associate Justice; and HAROLD W.L. WILLOCKS, Associate Justice.

OPINION OF THE COURT PER CURIAM.

¶1 This matter is before the Court on the recommendation of the Committee of Bar Examiners,

which reports that it could not find that Maureen Madera Garcia possesses the requisite character

and fitness to qualify for special admission to the Virgin Islands Bar on grounds that she engaged

in the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands for more than two years. For the reasons

that follow, we accept the recommendation and deny the motion for her special admission.

I. BACKGROUND

¶2 The Department of Planning and Natural Resources (“DPNR”) filed a motion to specially

admit Madera Garcia to the Virgin Islands Bar on April 22, 2025. In the accompanying application

for special admission, Madera Garcia disclosed that she had previously been employed as “Legal

Counsel” for the DPNR from September 2022 to November 2024. However, while Madera Garcia In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 2 of 8

is admitted to the practice of law in Puerto Rico and three federal courts outside the Virgin Islands,1

she has never been admitted to the practice of law in the Virgin Islands in any capacity—whether

regular, special, or pro hac vice—while employed as “Legal Counsel” during that 26-month

period.

¶3 The Committee of Bar Examiners commenced an examination into Madera Garcia’s

character and fitness to practice before the courts of the Virgin Islands and personally interviewed

her on August 28, 2025. At the interview, Madera Garcia stated that as “Legal Counsel” her duties

involved drafting contracts, explaining legal codes, training staff, and supervising employees.

Madera Garcia further stated that she had been unaware of the rules of professional conduct

pertaining to the unauthorized practice of law, that at the time there had been no other attorney

employed by the DPNR with knowledge of the unauthorized practice of law rules, and that once

she gained knowledge of those requirements she transferred to a position in another division of the

DPNR that did not involve the practice of law.

¶4 The Committee filed its recommendation with this Court on September 12, 2025. In its

recommendation, the Committee explained that while it found Madera Garcia “very candid,

forthright and honest about the work that she did with DPNR” it nevertheless “could not find that

[she] satisfied the standards for the special admission to practice law . . . inasmuch as the record

establishes and the candidate has admitted to engaging in the unauthorized practice of law for a

period of more than two years before her application for special admission.” (Rec. 2.) Later that

same day, Jean-Pierre L. Oriol—the Commissioner of the DPNR—submitted a letter in support of

1 The record reflects that Garcia is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 3 of 8

Madera Garcia’s special admission, which stated that “[w]hen Ms. Madera Garcia interviewed for

the Legal Counsel position, the Department failed to inform her that she would need to seek special

admission to the Virgin Islands Bar, and that she would need to complete the bar examination

within a certain timeframe once employed by the Department.” (DPNR Ltr. 1.)

¶5 On September 17, 2025, Madera Garcia filed a letter with this Court, titled “Request for

Leniency.” Seemingly contrary to her statements before the Committee, Madera Garcia asserted

that she had not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law while employed as “Legal Counsel”

because “[w]hile my title reflected a legal designation, the nature of my duties was administrative

and paralegal in scope.” Yet despite asserting that she had not engaged in the practice of law,

Madera Garcia concluded the letter by asserting that she did not know admission to the Virgin

Islands Bar was a requirement of her position and that she “began taking appropriate steps to

address the matter.” 2 (App. Ltr. 1.)

II. DISCUSSION

¶6 This Court, as the highest court of the Virgin Islands, possesses the constitutional, statutory,

and inherent authority to exercise exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the practice of law in the

territory. See In re Rogers, 56 V.I. 618, 623 (V.I. 2012); 4 V.I.C. § 32(e). Pursuant to the bar

admissions rules promulgated by this Court,

Any person employed or about to be employed as an attorney by the Government of the Virgin Islands, its branches, departments, agencies and instrumentalities, the United States, Legal Services of the Virgin Islands, Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands or VIVA for Children, Inc., may be admitted specially without written examination and only for the purposes of such employment if, upon

2 On October 28, 2025—well after this matter became fully briefed and submitted for decision by this Court—the DPNR filed a notice with this Court requesting leave to withdraw the application for Madera Garcia’s admission. Because the request to withdraw the application comes only after the Committee determined that Madera Garcia engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and lacks the requisite character and fitness for special admission, we deny the request. See In re Golia-Paladin, 393 S.E.2d 799, 800 (N.C. 1990) (declining to grant leave to withdraw bar application in the event of an unfavorable ruling as to the applicant’s qualifications for admission). In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 4 of 8

application, the Supreme Court determines that the person meets the qualifications of regular active admission except for having passed the Virgin Islands Bar examination; and is (1) admitted to practice in the highest court of a state, the District of Columbia or a commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States and (2) is otherwise professionally, morally and ethically qualified for admission to the Bar of the Virgin Islands and the admission of such person would be in the best interest of the Territory.

V.I.S.CT.R. 202(a).

¶7 The character and fitness requirement for applicants for special admission are “the same .

. . as any other applicant seeking permanent regular active admission to the Virgin Islands Bar.”

V.I.S.CT.R. 202(b)(1). “A bar applicant bears the burden of establishing his or her moral

qualifications by clear and convincing evidence.” In re Application of Coggin, 49 V.I. 432, 436

(V.I. 2008). While “we accord some deference to the Committee’s finding of facts, it is ultimately

this Court’s responsibility to determine whether an applicant should be admitted to the V.I. Bar.”

Id. However, “any doubt is resolved in denying admission in order to protect the public.” Id. at

437.

¶8 We conclude that Madera Garcia failed to meet her burden to establish that she possesses

the requisite “qualities of honesty, fairness, candor, trustworthiness, observance of fiduciary

responsibility, respect for and obedience to the laws” to qualify for special admission. Id. We

agree with the Committee that Madera Garcia engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in the

Virgin Islands from September 2022 to November 2024. Rule 211.5.5 of the Virgin Islands Rules

of Professional Conduct provides that

(a) A lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction, or assist another in doing so. (b) An individual who is not admitted to practice in this jurisdiction shall not: (1) except as authorized by section 443 of title 4 of the Virgin Islands Code or other law, establish an office or other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of law; or In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 5 of 8

(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that he or she is admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction.

The prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands thus encompasses not

just substantive acts, but how one holds oneself out to others. As Madera Garcia acknowledges in

her letter to this Court, the title “Legal Counsel” is necessarily a “legal designation.” (App. Ltr. 1.)

As such, this Court has long held that individuals not licensed to the practice law in the Virgin

Islands who hold themselves out as “Legal Counsel,” “Staff Attorney,” “General Counsel,”

“Corporate Counsel,” “Esquire,” or similar titles necessarily engage in the unauthorized practice

of law when using such titles to describe their employment in the Virgin Islands. See In re

Motylinski, 60 V.I. 621, 648-49 (V.I. 2014); In re Campbell, 59 V.I. 701, 732-33 (V.I. 2013);

Coggin, 49 V.I. at 439. This remains the case even when the titles are “not issued in conjunction

with a specific legal matter,” since “these terms, by their very nature, imply that one possesses the

authority to provide legal services as a licensed attorney.” Campbell, 59 V.I. at 733.

¶9 Nevertheless, we conclude that Madera Garcia engaged in the unauthorized practice of law

through her substantive job duties as well. Rule 211.5.5(b)(1) of the Virgin Islands Rules of

Professional Conduct incorporates the definition of the unauthorized practice of law found in title

4, section 443 of the Virgin Islands Code, which provides, in pertinent part, that

Except as otherwise provided by law or rule of the Supreme Court, and excepting court personnel acting in the performance of their court duties, the unauthorized practice of law shall be deemed to mean the doing of any act by a person who is not a member in good standing of the Virgin Islands Bar Association for another person usually done by attorneys-at-law in the course of their profession, and shall include but not be limited to:

the appearance, acting as the attorney-at-law, or representative of another person, firm or corporation, before any court, referee, department, commission, board, judicial person or body authorized or constituted by law to determine any question of law or fact or to exercise any judicial power, or the preparation and/or filing of In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 6 of 8

pleadings or other legal papers incident to any action or other proceeding of any kind before or to be brought before the same.

4 V.I.C. § 443(a). Importantly, “this Court has adopted the principle that the practice of law

encompasses all matters implicating the rights and remedies of clients,” including matters that do

not involve litigation. In re Jindal, 69 V.I. 942, 949 (V.I. 2018) (quoting Motylinski, 60 V.I. at

649). While Madera Garcia asserts in her letter that her duties as “Legal Counsel” were

“administrative and paralegal in scope,” App. Ltr. 1, drafting contracts and explaining legal codes

for a client—in this case, DPNR—necessarily implicate the rights and remedies of that client, and

constitute the practice of law. Jindal, 69 V.I. at 949. And while this Court has “previously

observed—but did not hold—that it may be possible for individuals not licensed to practice law in

the Virgin Islands to assist licensed Virgin Islands attorneys as paralegals or secretaries with

respect to certain tasks without violating the prohibition on unauthorized practice,” such an

exception would not apply when the unlicensed individual also holds themself out as an attorney

while performing those tasks. Id. at 950; Motylinski, 60 V.I. at 650 n.14. This is particularly true

in this case where Madera Garcia not only used the title “Legal Counsel” but disclosed at the

August 28, 2025 interview that “at one point she was the sole attorney for the agency when her

colleague left in 2023” and thus had no licensed Virgin Islands attorney to assist. (Rec. 2.)

¶ 10 We recognize that the Committee credited Madera Garcia for her candor and honesty at

the August 28, 2025 hearing. Yet the Committee itself recognized, in nevertheless holding that

Madera Garcia lacked the requisite character and fitness for admission, that such candor could not

negate the fact that Madera Garcia engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands

for 26 months. Although it seems the Committee implicitly found that Madera Garcia was ignorant

of the unauthorized practice of law and bar admissions rules because no one at the DPNR had In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 7 of 8

informed her of them, the “[r]ules for the admission of practice to law, rules regulating the conduct

of the bar, and laws against the unauthorized practice of law were enacted to protect the public

from ignorance, inexperience, and unscrupulousness.” People v. Divorce Associated & Pub. Ltd.,

407 N.Y.S.2d 142, 144 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1978). That Madera Garcia—a lawyer with nearly a decade

of experience—accepted a job as “Legal Counsel” in the Virgin Islands, a jurisdiction in which

she had never been admitted to practice law, and for more than two years failed to do even the

most cursory research into what acts constitute the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin

Islands, is evidence of seemingly “willful ignorance.” Campbell, 59 V.I. at 739 n.25.

¶ 11 We also find Madera Garcia’s claim for leniency unpersuasive. While the Committee

credited her for honesty and candor for being forthright about engaging in the unauthorized

practice of law at the August 28, 2025 interview, Madera Garcia now adamantly claims in her

September 17, 2025 letter that her duties were always “administrative and paralegal in scope” that

never constituted the unauthorized practice of law and that this Court should consider her

“consistent adherence to the limits of [her] authority.” (App. Ltr. 1.) Madera Garcia’s position

that she never engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and always acted appropriately is

fundamentally different and inconsistent from her earlier claim that she was initially ignorant of

the unauthorized practice of law rules and immediately took action to change her job title and job

responsibilities at the DPNR after becoming aware of them.

¶ 12 Finally, this Court cannot agree that Madera Garcia took all the “appropriate steps to

address the matter.” (Ltr. 1.) Although the Committee initiated its inquiry into Madera Garcia’s

unauthorized practice of law based on her special admissions application, it did so not because

Madera Garcia disclosed her earlier conduct, but due to noticing her use of the “Legal Counsel”

title in listing her prior employment with the DPNR. And in her application for special admission, In re M. Madera Garcia 2025 VI 22 S. Ct. BA. No. 2025-0063 Opinion of the Court Page 8 of 8

filed with this Court on April 22, 2025 but executed by her on April 7, 2025, Madera Garcia

possessed multiple opportunities to advise the Committee and this Court of her conduct, but failed

to do so.

III. CONCLUSION

¶ 13 We agree with the Committee of Bar Examiners that Madera Garcia fails to show by clear

and convincing evidence that she possesses the requisite character and fitness for admission to the

Virgin Islands Bar. Accordingly, we deny the motion for her special admission. Because we deny

admission upon a finding that Madera Garcia engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, we refer

this matter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Board on Professional Responsibility, and

the Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law for further disciplinary proceedings against Madera

Garcia and others as appropriate.

Dated this 6th day of November, 2025.