IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF FLORES
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Opinion
IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF FLORES
2020 OK 13
Case Number: SCBD-6840
Decided: 03/03/2020
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Cite as: 2020 OK 13, __ P.3d __
IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF: MARCO DAX FLORES TO MEMBERSHIP IN THE OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION AND TO THE ROLL OF ATTORNEYS
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FOR RULE 11
BAR REINSTATEMENT
¶0 Petitioner, Marco Dax Flores, filed a petition for reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association. The Oklahoma Bar Association does not oppose this reinstatement. The Professional Responsibility Tribunal unanimously recommended reinstatement. After our de novo review, we find the Petitioner should be reinstated.
PETITION FOR REINSTATEMENT IS GRANTED;
PETITIONER IS ORDERED TO PAY COSTS
Marco Dax Flores, Petitioner/Pro Se.
Stephen L. Sullins, Assistant General Counsel, Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Respondent.
¶1 On October 7, 2019 the Petitioner, Marco Dax Flores, filed his Petition for Reinstatement requesting he be readmitted as a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) pursuant to Rule 11, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S. 2011, Ch. 1, App. 1-A (RGDP). The record reflects the Petitioner was admitted to the Texas Bar Association in November 2000, after graduating from St. Mary's University School of Law the same year. He began work with a law firm, Dehay & Ellison, L.L.P., in Dallas, Texas and remained with that firm until October 2014. On May 12, 2014, he was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association in order to handle cases in Oklahoma for the firm. Part of his duties included counseling clients in regulatory proceedings before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and Oklahoma Water Resources Board. There is no evidence that he ever resided in Oklahoma. Upon leaving that firm, he moved to San Antonio, Texas to practice law and had no intention at that time of practicing law in Oklahoma. For the year 2015, the Petitioner stopped paying his bar dues in Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, this Court suspended him from membership in the OBA for failure to pay membership dues for the year 2015.1 One year later, this Court ordered his name stricken from the OBA membership rolls.2 He continues to practice law in San Antonio and founded his own firm in 2017, Flores & Pelaez Prada, PLLC, where he is the managing partner. The record reflects that since passing the Texas bar in 2000 he has continually practiced law each year thereafter and has been in good standing with that bar. In addition, he was licensed in Illinois on February 28, 2014 and was placed on retirement status at his request on January 11, 2019. He is also currently licensed in Colorado. This matter was assigned to this office on February 7, 2020.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶2 This Court has the non-delegable, constitutional responsibility to regulate both the practice and the ethics, licensure, and discipline of Oklahoma practitioners of the law. In re Reinstatement of Kerr, 2015 OK 9, ¶6, 345 P.3d 1118. Our review of the record is made de novo, in which we conduct a non-deferential, full-scale examination of all relevant facts. State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Hulett, 2008 OK 38, ¶4, 183 P.3d 1014. In a proceeding involving no prior imposition of discipline for lawyer professional misconduct, the focus of our inquiry concerns 1) the present moral fitness of the applicant; 2) conduct subsequent to suspension as it relates to moral fitness and professional competence; 3) whether the attorney has engaged in the unauthorized practice of law; and 4) whether the attorney has complied with the rule-mandated requirements for reinstatement. In re Reinstatement of Christopher, 2014 OK 73, ¶5, 330 P.3d 1221. Rule 11.4, RGDP, places the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence on the Petitioner. The PRT's recommendations concerning these matters, while entitled to great weight, are advisory in character and the ultimate decision rests with this Court. In re Reinstatement of Pate, 2008 OK 24, ¶3, 184 P.3d 528; In re Reinstatement of Floyd, 1989 OK 83, ¶3, 775 P.2d 815. Rule 11.4, RGDP, provides an applicant seeking reinstatement will be required to present stronger proof of qualifications than one seeking admission for the first time. In addition, Rule 11.5, RGDP provides in pertinent part:
At the conclusion of the hearing held on the petition for reinstatement, the Trial Panel of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal shall file a report with the Supreme Court, together with the transcript of the hearing. Said report shall contain specific findings upon each of the following:
. . . .
(c) Whether or not the applicant possesses the competency and learning in the law required for admission to practice law in the State of Oklahoma, except that any applicant whose membership in the Association has been suspended or terminated for a period of five (5) years or longer, or who has been disbarred, shall be required to take and successfully pass the regular examination given by the Board of Bar Examiners of the Oklahoma Bar Association. Provided, however, before the applicant shall be required to take and pass the bar examination, he shall have a reasonable opportunity to show by clear and convincing evidence that, notwithstanding his long absence from the practice of law, he has continued to study and thus has kept himself informed as to current developments in the law sufficient to maintain his competency.
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