New York Attorney M Scott Vayer was admitted to practice law in 1980. Somewhere around 2001 Vayer stopped reregistering with the Office of Court Administration (OCA) because of the stresses in his life prevented him from being able to complete his CLE. He had good intentions of getting caught soon after 2001, but as time went by the task of getting his CLE current became “overwhelming”.
Even though he had not registered and/or gotten current with his CLE he continued to happily practice law for the next 17 years. This was in spite of the fact that in 2010, he had been suspended from the practice of law. The notice of his suspension had been published in the New York Law Journal for 5 days in June of 2010. But according to Vayer he did not get this notice because he does not subscribe to the New York Law Journal. Vayer also stated that he did not get any notices in the mail because in the fall of 2010 he had moved his law practice and residence. Vayer did admit that he might have found out about the suspensions if he had registered his new addresses with the OCA as required.
Fast forward to April 2017; Vayer learned of his suspension from another attorney, who also reported the matter to the Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC). When contacted by the AGC, Vayer stated that he suspected that he might not be in “good standing” but he did not know that he was suspended.
To Vayer’s credit after “learning” of the suspension, he stopped practicing law, paid his back registration fees, and completed 231.5 CLE credits to become current with his CLE requirements. Vayer, seeking a mulligan, argues that he did not knowingly practice law while suspended and is now seeking reinstatement.
The Court has continued his interim suspension pending further notice from the Court.
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