An attorney writes me:
as an attorney i am telling you that people can "choose" to not pay their registration fees or take their continuing education of the bar and therefore go on "suspension...or inactive status that goes thru the CAL BAR--the california bar association this ADRC is for discipline reasons...not for those volunteering to stop practicing. it is COURT ORDERED...not "michelle obama ordered" their website was very clear about their function and why they step in.
You look at the ARDC entry for Michelle Obama and is says her status is "Voluntarily inactive and not authorized to practice law." If her license was yanked for disciplinary reasons then how would the status be voluntary.
I have no idea how things work in California, but in Illinois the ARDC operates under the authority of the Illinois Supreme Court. In 1993 all suspensions, be they voluntary or involuntary, were covered by Supreme Court Rule 770 and went through them. Change from this voluntary inactive status required an act of the Supreme Court to implement. This act is purely administrative, but is still done under the authority of the court.
Here are the details Link.
could she have been found “unfit” to practice thru her employment at Sidley Austin thru her performance as an employee ,say,lacking the basics to complete her job task(s)?or some egregious type of behavior where she would have gone thru all the wrong channels to accomplish something?what would be the scenario here?