Appellate Division: Second Judicial Department

M168753

E/ct

RANDALL T. ENG, P.J.

REINALDO E. RIVERA

PETER B. SKELOS

MARK C. DILLON

SANDRA L. SGROI, JJ.

2013-00747 In the Matter of Robert J. DePalma, admitted as Robert John DePalma, a disbarred attorney. Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts, petitioner; Robert J. DePalma, respondent. (Attorney Registration No. 2167054)

DECISION & ORDER ON MOTION

Motion by Robert J. DePalma, inter alia, for reconsideration of an application by the Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts pursuant to 22 NYCRR 691.3 to impose discipline against him based upon disciplinary action taken against him by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and, in effect, for a hearing on the issue of whether the imposition of the discipline of disbarment would be unjust. Mr. DePalma was admitted to the Bar in the State of New York at a term of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial Department on December 9, 1987, under the name Robert John DePalma. By order filed on October 24, 2012, the Supreme Court of New Jersey disbarred Mr. DePalma, in that State, on consent, and struck his name from the roll of attorneys. By opinion and order dated August 28, 2013, this Court disbarred Mr. DePalma based on the discipline taken against him by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, effective immediately.

Upon the papers filed in support of the motion and the papers filed in opposition thereto, it is

ORDERED that the motion is granted to the extent that the opinion and order of this Court dated August 28, 2013, is recalled and vacated, Robert John DePalma is reinstated as an attorney and counselor-at-law, the matter is remitted for a hearing on the issue of whether the imposition of the discipline of disbarment would be unjust, and the motion is otherwise denied; and it is further,

ORDERED that the hearing shall be conducted before the Honorable Harry E. Seidell, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Tenth Judicial District, 10 Thorn Grove Lane, Dix Hills, N.Y. 11746-6709, as Special Referee, to hear and report solely with respect to the issue of whether the imposition of the discipline of disbarment would be unjust; and it is further,

ORDERED that the application pursuant to 22 NYCRR 691.3 is held in abeyance in the interim.

ENG, P.J., RIVERA, SKELOS, DILLON and SGROI, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

Aprilanne Agostino

Clerk of the Court