Appellate Division: Second Judicial Department

M92647

E/cb

A. GAIL PRUDENTI, P.J.

WILLIAM F. MASTRO

REINALDO E. RIVERA

PETER B. SKELOS

FRED T. SANTUCCI, JJ.

1998-05925 In the Matter of Ben Kinzler, a suspended attorney. (Attorney Registration No. 1625128)

DECISION & ORDER ON MOTION

Motion by the respondent for reinstatement to the bar as an attorney and counselor-at-law. The respondent was admitted to the bar at a term of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial Department on March 6, 1974. By decision and order on application of this court dated December 3, 1998, the Grievance Committee was authorized to institute and prosecute a disciplinary proceeding against him and the issues raised were referred to the Honorable Ronald J. Aiello, as Special Referee to hear and report. By opinion and order of this Court dated November 4, 2002, the respondent was suspended from the practice of law for a period of two years based on the Special Referee's report, which sustained all four charges of professional misconduct.

Upon the papers submitted in support of the motion and the papers submitted in relation thereto, it is

ORDERED that the respondent's motion is held in abeyance and the matter is referred to the Committee on Character and Fitness to investigate and report on the respondent's fitness to be an attorney, including but not limited to, his retainer in a non-legal capacity by the same entities for which he previously served as General Counsel and whether he notified the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding his suspension.

PRUDENTI, P.J., MASTRO, RIVERA, SKELOS and SANTUCCI, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

James Edward Pelzer

Clerk of the Court