Hunter Biden’s license to practice law in the nation’s capital was suspended on Tuesday, exactly two weeks after he was convicted of lying about drug use to obtain a firearm.
“Pending resolution of this matter, defendant is immediately suspended from practicing law in the District of Columbia,” the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Tuesday.
Last week, the D.C. Bar Association’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a notice seeking to suspend the 54-year-old attorney’s license following his June 11 conviction.
In its ruling, the D.C. Court of Appeals noted that Hunter’s conviction constituted a “felony” under the bar’s rules, which state that members may not commit any felony or “false oath, false statement, [or] Among other violations, “fraud” stood out.
Until his conviction, Hunter, a graduate of the prestigious Yale Law School, was considered a member in good standing of the district bar association.
The appeals court also asked the D.C. Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics to “initiate a formal proceeding to determine the nature of the crime and whether it involved moral turpitude.”
Hunter’s lawyers filed papers Monday seeking a new trial after making a similar motion earlier this month and then withdrawing it shortly thereafter without a clear explanation.
The scandal-scarred eldest son joined the Washington, D.C., bar in 2007 and was listed as paying $331 a year to maintain his membership.
Hunter served as counsel at Boies Schiller Flexner, a prominent law firm with ties to the Democratic Party, while his father was vice president, but he does not appear to have been actively practicing law in Washington, D.C., in recent years.
His first son’s attorney’s license in Connecticut is currently administratively suspended for failure to pay reissue fees. According to the records.
Biden’s son currently lives in California.
Hunter is due to be sentenced on the firearms charge in the fall, and faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of around $750,000, though as it is a first offense the sentence is likely to be much lighter.
Hunter also faces nine counts of intentionally evading taxes to the tune of approximately $1.4 million between 2016 and 2019, and is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles starting Sept. 5.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The son’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
