The New London County Standing Committee on Recommendations for Admission to the Bar said in a Friday report Corey J. Brinson "has taken every opportunity to better himself" since his 2017 federal guilty plea, including by working as a paralegal under the supervision of Hartford attorney Richard Cramer.
The committee said Brinson is fit to practice law, but should be subject to two years of twice-yearly trust account monitoring, malpractice insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence and one year of mentoring.
The committee credited Brinson for lecturing law students on how to avoid unethical conduct, lobbying for criminal justice reform and assisting others in seeking pardons. He has also attempted to regain his former seat on the Hartford City Council, according to the committee.
"He has repeatedly apologized and expressed remorse for what happened," the committee said of Brinson. "He has not hidden his wrongdoing, but instead has used his experience as a teachable moment for the next generation of lawyers."
The committee also called Brinson "sincere and honest in his acknowledgement of his failings."
"I am grateful for the committee's favorable recommendation, and I look forward to the court's review," Brinson told Law360 on Wednesday.
The committee said Friday that Brinson cooperated with a 2016 federal probe into the conduct of a client, Christian Meissenn, who had been barred from offering securities. Brinson, who operated a solo law office and had no experience in securities law, wrote opinion letters falsely indicating Meissenn's companies were sound and accepted money from investors, the committee said.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, Brinson was a purported "securities counsel" for several companies, which federal prosecutors described as having engaged in a "pump and dump" stock scheme.
Brinson moved about $3 million through his law firm's accounts, receiving about $200,000 for himself while passing the rest to Meissenn, the committee said.
In 2017, he pled guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison plus three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution at a rate of $1,000 per month, the committee noted. It indicated he had paid $200,000 toward the balance and remains current on payments.
In Friday's report, the New London bar admission committee said Brinson acknowledged his criminal conviction constituted "serious misconduct."
"He expressed his remorse for his participation in the Meissenn scheme and said that he did not blame anyone else but himself for his actions," the committee said.
The committee also noted Brinson spent the first four years of his career at large law firms, where he did not have to manage client trust accounts, then struck out on his own. He was 29 when he Meissenn became his client and 36 when he was convicted at age 36, the committee noted.
Brinson, now 46, deserves credit for paying his debts to society, educating himself, reaffirming his "obedience to the law" and surrounding himself with strong mentors, the committee concluded.
In June, U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill said Brinson could reenter federal practice, but that decision hinged on whether state authorities agreed to readmit him.
Brinson consented to being suspended from practice in 2016. He has sought to reenter the legal profession since 2021, but his two prior state petitions to regain his law license were denied. A spokesperson for the Connecticut Judicial Branch declined to comment on behalf of the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, which sought Brinson's suspension in 2016.
During a hearing on Brinson's most recent application for readmission, Chief Disciplinary Counsel Brian B. Staines suggested many of the guardrails the committee adopted, though Staines asked for quarterly monitoring of any trust account Brinson may open.
"This case is a little different in the sense that he intentionally was misusing his [Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts]," Staines said.
"We have to protect the public," he continued. "We have to do a certain amount to make sure we have things in place that may catch a problem."
Staines said the public's perception of the legal profession had been "resolved by time" spanning Brinson's criminal plea and readmission application.
The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel declined to comment Wednesday.
Beth A. Steele of DiFrancesca & Steele, Yona Gregory of The Law Office of Yona Gregory LLC and Daniel J. Horgan of Horgan Law Offices sat on the New London County Standing Committee on Recommendations for Admission to the Bar.
The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel is represented by Brian B. Staines.
Brinson is representing himself.
The case is Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Brinson, case number UWY-CV16-6095776-S, in the Waterbury Judicial District of the Connecticut Superior Court.
--Editing by Lakshna Mehta.
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