In Re Steven Kramer

We must decide whether a federal district in California may impose reciprocal discipline by disbarring an attorney on the basis of his disbarment from practice in New York.

I

In 1998, Steven Kramer was disbarred from practice in the State of New York. The misconduct that gave rise to his disbarment is described in In re Kramer (“Kramer I”), 235 A.D.2d 87 , 664 N.Y.S.2d 1 (App.Div.1997), where the First Department of New York’s Appellate Division found Kramer guilty of professional misconduct based on his misdeeds in two separate cases: one in New York, in which a federal district court dismissed Kramer’s client’s complaint and imposed sanctions on Kramer, id. at 2, and one in New Jersey, which resulted in Kramer’s suspension from practice before the courts of New Jersey for a period of six months, id. at 4. The Appellate Division then referred Kramer’s case to the First Department’s Disciplinary Committee “to consider evidence in mitigation or aggravation, ... and to recommend the appropriate sanctions.” Id.

After a hearing, the Committee recommended disbarment. The Appellate Division agreed, noting that over the course of eleven years, Kramer had been “sanctioned, criticized,…