We applaud the Oct. 15 administrative decisions of the New Jersey Supreme Court, ("State Supreme Court adopts readmission process for disbarred attorneys") which establish a balanced approach by which some disbarred New Jersey attorneys can seek reinstatement to the practice of law. In In Re Wade, (2022), the court adhered to its long established holdings that attorneys who are found to have knowingly misappropriated client trust and escrow accounts must be disbarred. See In re Hollendonner (1985); In re Wilson, (1979). Briefly stated, the Wilson court said such misconduct "is any unauthorized use by the lawyer of clients' funds entrusted to him…" including any "unauthorized temporary use for the lawyer's own purpose, whether or not he derives any personal gain or benefit therefrom."

However, in the Wade opinion, the court also raised the separate question of "whether and how to create a rigorous system that can determine if a lawyer disbarred for those reasons deserves a second chance years later."