Admission Denied In Maine To F. Lee Bailey

The Lewiston-Auburn Journal reports that F. Lee Bailey's attempt to secure a Maine law license has been turned down:

Bailey, 79, passed the Maine Bar Examination in February. He had been licensed in Massachusetts and, later, in Florida. But he was disbarred in both of those states in the early 2000s following a Florida Supreme Court ruling on seven counts of attorney misconduct stemming from his handling of a case involving an accused marijuana dealer.

Bailey spent 44 days in federal prison before he was released after repaying millions of dollars worth of stock in a pharmaceutical company he had transferred from his former client's assets.

"Mr. Bailey has not met his burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that he possesses the requisite good character and fitness necessary for admission to the Maine Bar," five members of the State of Maine Board of Bar Examiners concluded in a 22-page decision in November.

Four other members of the board wrote a minority opinion in a seven-page dissent.

Hat tip to the Washington Post. (Mike Frisch)