In Re McKelvey

[427]

CONKJEY, F. J.

— By order entered herein on May 17, 1926, the application of petitioner was referred to the board of bar examiners, with the direction that the board take evidence concerning the moral qualifications of the applicant; that the evidence taken, together with the findings of the board as such referee, upon the question whether or not the applicant is possessed of such moral qualifications as to entitle him to reinstatement, be filed herein.

(Matter of McKelvey,

78 Cal. App. 66 [247 Pac. 1114].) Thereafter, a hearing was had and evidence produced, which is now on file, together with a report of the board of examiners. In that report the board presented a summary of the evidence, together with a finding or conclusion that “applicant is not of good moral character in the sense in which that phrase is used when applied to attorneys at law, and he is not a fit and proper person to be entrusted with the privileges of the office of an attorney at law.”

After said report was filed, and pursuant to notice, the applicant presented his motion that the applicant be admitted to practice, notwithstanding said adverse report.

Passing without comment those parts of the notice of motion which only relate to procedure, the court will proceed directly to the principal ground of the motion, which, as stated, is, “that all of the evidence adduced shows that applicant is of good moral character and competent to carry on the practice of law before the courts of this state.” At the time when the order of reference was made the court in effect determined that the applicant possessed the necessary mental qualifications. The case is one in which an applicant heretofore disbarred after conviction in a federal court on a charge of conspiracy to violate the mails of the United States, and who has remained thus disbarred for a period now approaching ten years, now asks to be readmitted, and permitted again to practice law in this state.

The petition for reinstatement filed herein on the twenty-eighth day of December, 1925, is accompanied by verified statements of numerous persons, which in various terms attest the present good moral character of the petitioner and declare the belief of those persons that, if restored to his right to practice law, the applicant will be a credit to the legal profession. The persons furnishing these state-