On September 11, 2024, the Board of Immigration Appeals granted a joint petition from the Disciplinary Counsel for the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Disciplinary Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security to immediately suspend attorney Ta-Yu Yang from practicing law before the Board of Immigration Appeals, Immigration Courts, and DHS.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Ta-Yu Yang.”
This came in response to an order from the Supreme Court of Iowa on May 3, 2024, which suspended Mr. Yang’s law license for 30 days after an audit uncovered numerous violations of rules related to his client trust account. Specifically, the Supreme Court found Yang had failed to properly maintain records of deposits and withdrawals. He did not keep ledgers of client balances or records of outstanding checks. Yang also did not perform the required monthly reconciliations of the account.
Further, Yang did not have a clear system to withdraw fees paid in advance from the trust account. He withdrew funds without providing clients with detailed written notices and accounting of the time, amount, and purpose of each withdrawal. This was Yang’s second time violating trust account rules, as a 2014 audit uncovered similar issues, though he only received private reprimands at that time.
The Board ordered Yang’s immediate suspension from immigration courts pending the final outcome of the disciplinary proceedings. He must also notify any current clients of his suspension. The suspension will remain in effect until further order by the Board.
The Disposition states:
“The petition is granted, and the respondent is hereby suspended from the practice of law before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Immigration Courts, and DHS pending final disposition of this proceeding.”
According to avvo.com, Mr. Yang is an attorney in Des Moines, Iowa.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
