MEMBERS LOUANN VAN DERWIELE CHAIRPERSON REV. MICHAEL MURRAY VICE-CHAIRPERSON DULCE M. FULLER SECRETARY JAMES A. FINK JOHN W. INHULSEN JONATHAN E. LAUDERBACH BARBARA WILLIAMS FORNEY KAREN D. O'DONOGHUE MICHAEL B. RIZIK, JR.
STATE OF MICHIGAN ATTORNEY DISCIPLINE BOARD
211 WEST FORT STREET, SUITE 1410 DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226-3236 PHONE: 313-963-5553 I FAX: 313·963·5571
MARK A. ARMITAGE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WENDY A. NEELEY DEPUTY DIRECTOR KAREN M. DALEY ASSOCIATE COUNSEL SHERRY L. MIFSUD OFFICE ADMINISTRA TOR ALLYSON M. PLOURDE CASE MANAGER OWEN R. MONTGOMERY CASE MANAGER JULIE M. LOISELLE RECEPTION/STISECRETARY
NOTICE OF DISBARMENT Case No. 14-117-GA Notice Issued: February 13,2017 Ali S. Zaidi, P 71435, Lewiston, New York, by the Attorney Discipline Board Tri-County Hearing Panel #3.
Disbarred, Effective February 26, 2016. Respondent was found to have engaged in the misconduct alleged in the formal complaint, which consisted of numerous instances where respondent had made false representations as to his education, employment history, and licensure as an attorney in other states prior to becoming licensed to practice in Michigan; misrepresentations on the website for his law firm, Great Lakes Law Group; and misrepresentations in his answer to a request for investigation. Specifically, the panel found that respondent failed to provide his correct address to the State Bar, as required by Rule 2 of the Rules Concerning the State Bar of Michigan; used a form of public communication that contained a material misrepresentation of fact or omitted a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading, in violation of MRPC 7.1 (a); made knowing misrepresentations of facts or circumstances in his answer to the request for investigation, in violation of MeR 9.104(6); and made misrepresentations in his answer to the request for investigation, in violation of MeR 9.113(A). Respondent was also found to have violated MeR 9.104(1 )-(4); and MRPC 8.4(a) and (b).
The panel ordered that respondent be disbarred from the practice of law in Michigan, effective February 26, 2016. Respondent filed a petition for review, along with a request for a stay of discipline. The Board denied respondent's request for a stay of discipline, and, upon review, affirmed the hearing panel's order of disbarment. Total costs were assessed in the amount of $2,493.40. Ptt.« a ~ Mark A. Armitage Executive Director