Why is Cali Law Professor Aziza Ahmed Seeking NY Bar Reinstatement after 3 Years?

We’ll be watchin’ to see why Aziza Ahmed has sua sponte decided to retain ethics attorney Richard Maltz to get her back on NY’s lawyer roll.
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Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a (Ahmed)
2022 NY Slip Op 02180
Decided on March 31, 2022
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: March 31, 2022

PM-65-22
[*1]In the Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a. Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Petitioner; Aziza Ahmed, Respondent. (Attorney Registration No. 4710539.)

Calendar Date: January 24, 2022
Before:Garry, P.J., Lynch, Aarons, Pritzker and Ceresia, JJ.

REPUBLISHED BY LINY : APR 1, 2022

Monica A. Duffy, Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department, Albany, for Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department.

Richard M. Maltz, PLLC, New York City (Richard M. Maltz of counsel), for respondent.

 

Per Curiam.

Respondent was admitted to practice by this Court in 2009 and currently serves as a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.

She is not admitted to practice in any other jurisdiction.

Respondent was suspended from the practice of law by May 2019 order of this Court for conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice arising from her failure to comply with her attorney registration requirements beginning with the 2015-2016 biennial period (Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a, 172 AD3d 1706, 1709 [2019]).

Having cured her registration delinquency in June 2019, respondent now applies for her reinstatement (see Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.16 [a]; Rules of App Div, 3d Dept [22 NYCRR] § 806.16 [a]).

The Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department has submitted correspondence in response, advising that it does not oppose respondent’s application.

Respondent has met the threshold obligations for an applicant seeking reinstatement from a term of suspension longer than six months by properly submitting a duly-sworn form affidavit as provided for in appendix C to the Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters (22 NYCRR) part 1240, along with the necessary exhibits (see Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.16 [b]).

Further, respondent provides proof that she successfully passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination administered in August 2021, which falls within one year of the date of her application.

Finally, respondent has cured her registration delinquency and is current with her statutory obligations (see Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters [22 NYCRR] § 1240.16 [b]).

We have also determined that respondent has satisfied the three-part test applicable to all attorneys seeking reinstatement from suspension.

Respondent’s attestations in her application materials demonstrate that she has not practiced law during the period of her suspension and that her employment during that period of time has been in the field of academia.

Accordingly, we find that she has sufficiently established her compliance with the order of suspension and the rules governing the conduct of suspended attorneys (see Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a [Rogers], 173 AD3d 1427, 1428 [2019]).

Respondent has also met her burden to establish her character and fitness for reinstatement.

To this end, respondent has no disciplinary history beyond her current suspension stemming from her registration delinquency and further attests that she has not been the subject of any criminal or governmental investigations (see Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a [Pastor], 194 AD3d 1307, 1309 [2021]).

Further, there are no financial circumstances or medical or substance abuse history that would negatively impact respondent’s reinstatement.

As to the public interest in her reinstatement, respondent’s employment as a law professor and her commitment to participating in continuing legal education during the period of her suspension suggest that no detriment would result from her reinstatement.

Moreover, her continuing employment as a law professor along with her involvement in various public service endeavors provide a tangible benefit to the public (see; Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a [Toussaint], 196 AD3d 830, 832 [2021];

see also Matter of Attorneys in Violation of Judiciary Law § 468-a [Qiao], ___ AD3d ___, ___, 160 NYS3d 674, 674 [2022]). Accordingly, we find that respondent has met the requirements for reinstatement and we therefore grant her motion and reinstate her to the practice of law.

Garry, P.J., Lynch, Aarons, Pritzker and Ceresia, JJ., concur.

ORDERED that respondent’s motion for reinstatement is granted; and it is further

ORDERED that respondent is reinstated as an attorney and counselor-at-law in the State of New York, effectively immediately.

Who is Reinstated Sanctioned Attorney Aziza Ahmed?

University of California, Irvine School of Law

Expertise:

Social Movements and the Law;

Health Law;

Criminal Law;

Constitutional Law;

Gender, Sexuality and the Law;

Reproductive Rights;

Bioethics;

Race and the Law;

International Human Rights;

International Law

Background:

Aziza Ahmed’s scholarship examines the intersection of law, politics, and science in the fields of constitutional law, criminal law, health law, and family law.

This work advances multiple scholarly conversations including those related to law and social movements, race and the law, and feminist legal theory.

Prof. Ahmed joins UCI Law from Northeastern University School of Law, where she has taught since 2010.

Prof. Ahmed has been Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, Bennett Boskey Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, visiting scholar at the Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy Biotechnology, and Bioethics, and Law and Public Affairs Fellow at Princeton University.

She is the author of the forthcoming book Feminism’s Medicine: Law, Science, and Social Movements in the AIDS Response, published by Cambridge University Press, and co-editor of the forthcoming handbook, Race, Racism, and the Law, published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Prof. Ahmed earned a B.A. from Emory University, a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and an M.S. in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

(Log in to view full course descriptions in the UCI Law Course Catalog)

In the Media

A Professional Responsibility Lawyer that is an Experienced and Forceful Advocate that Provides Practical Advice and Reliable Judgment – A Lawyer’s Lawyer
Richard M. Maltz

Richard M. Maltz began his career in the ethics/professional responsibility over 32 years ago when he became a disciplinary prosecutor for the First Department, Departmental Disciplinary Committee, after seven years engaged in civil and criminal litigation. After a short time as a staff attorney, Richard was promoted to Deputy Chief Counsel and then First Deputy Chief Counsel, positions he held for most of his twelve-year career with the Committee.

After leaving the Committee, Richard has been representing attorneys that have disciplinary problems, representing law school graduates and out-of-state lawyers before Admission Committees and the Court of Appeals seeking admission to the Bar, advising lawyers and law firms about ethics and law firm issues, and litigating on behalf of lawyers that have disputes with former law firms or former clients. Richard has also written on ethics issues, testified as an expert, and taught ethics for many CLE programs, including his own programs for which he was certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board.

Currently, Mr. Maltz is Chair of the New York State Bar Committee on Professional Discipline and he was creator and Chair of the former New York State Trial Lawyer’s Ethics Committee. Mr. Maltz is a former Chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee of the New York City Bar (2002 – 2005) and former Chair and then Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Westchester County Bar Association. He is a former member of the New York County Lawyers’ Ethics Institute and was appointed to the New York State Bar Advertising Task Force. He was also former Chair of the Briarcliff Manor Ethics Board, as well as a former Referee for the Judicial Conduct Commission.

AA’s moved in June 2022 to Boston University School of Law

Aziza Ahmed

Professor of Law

BA, Emory University
JD, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
MS, Harvard School of Public Health

Areas of Interest
Health Law, Humanitarian Law, Property Law, Reproductive Rights and Justice
Contact
Biography

Aziza Ahmed’s scholarship examines the intersection of law, politics, and science in the fields of constitutional law, criminal law, health law, and family law. She will be teaching the International Human Rights Seminar and a Reproductive Rights course this fall.

Before joining Boston University School of Law, Ahmed was professor of law at University of California, Irvine School of Law. She also taught at Northeastern University School of Law. She has served as visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School, Bennett Boskey Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, visiting scholar at the Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, and Law and public affairs fellow at Princeton University.

Professor Ahmed’s scholarship has appeared in journals including University of Miami Law ReviewAmerican Journal of Law and MedicineHarvard Journal of Law and GenderBoston University Law Review, and American Journal of International Law.

Prior to teaching, Professor Ahmed was a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health Program on International Health and Human Rights. She came to that position after a women’s law and public policy fellowship with the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. Professor Ahmed was a member of the Technical Advisory Group on HIV and the Law convened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and has been an expert for many institutions, including the American Bar Association and UNDP.

Ahmed is the author of the forthcoming book Feminism’s Medicine: Law, Science, and Social Movements in the AIDS Response, published by Cambridge University Press, and coeditor of the forthcoming handbook, Race, Racism, and the Law, published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Professor Ahmed earned a BA from Emory University, a JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and an MS in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Activities & Engagements

Jul 12 2022

Panelist

Roe and Dobbs: The Ripple Effects of the SCOTUS Ruling on Democracy and Our Futures

Please join BU Diversity & Inclusion and the LGBTQIA+ Center for Faculty & Staff for a fully virtual BU faculty panel discussion featuring Linda McClain, Aziza Ahmed, and Nicole Huberfeld in response to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on the Dobbs v. Jackson case. This decision overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade case from nearly 50 years ago. This virtual panel will occur on July 12 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm.

This decision has left many of us in frustration, anger, confusion, disappointment, fear, and many questions about the future of equitable and safe healthcare access in the United States.

What are the immediate implications of this court ruling for those who are or who may become pregnant? Who will bear the brunt of the fallout stemming from the overturn of Roe v. Wade? Does the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade impact other landmark court rulings, such as those about contraception, interracial marriage, “same-sex” marriage, and sodomy? What can we as individuals do to alter the course of our collective history?

We hope to answer these questions by bringing together the best and brightest scholars within Boston University to share their knowledge and expertise with the community. This event will also include time for audience Q&A.

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