On Thursday, December 1, 2022, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ordered the suspension of San Diego attorney Kimberly Marie Swierenga in consideration of the certified order of suspension from the state of California.

The case, titled In Re Kimberly Marie Swierenga was brought by the Disciplinary Counsel. Case #DDN 2021-D221.

On October 18, 2021, Swierenga was suspended from the practice of law in the state of California for one year, execution of that period of suspension is stayed, in favor of one-year probation with conditions. The Court ordered the suspension pending final disposition of the proceedings and directed her to show cause why the reciprocal discipline should not be imposed. Swierenga responded to the show cause order and requested for a substantially different discipline of a private admonition and that discipline be imposed concurrent to the California discipline. Moreover, Swierenga filed her D.C. Bar R. XI § 14(g) on October 31, 2022, and stated that she has not practiced law in the District of Columbia since the date of her suspension in California.

The Disciplinary Counsel, by a statement, acknowledged that Swierenga notified the Disciplinary Counsel of her suspension in California.

Accordingly, the Court ruled against the Respondent and imposed the same discipline as that imposed by the state of California.

The dispositive part of the Order reads:

“ORDERED, sua sponte, that respondent’s lodged final probation report is filed. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that Kimberly Marie Swierenga is hereby suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of one year, nunc pro tunc to November 17, 2021, fully stayed subject to compliance with the probationary terms imposed in California.”

As of today, Ms. Swierenga practices in San Diego, California with the law firm Swierenga Law & Mediation. She graduated from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Swierenga has been licensed in the District of Columbia, license #1026464, as well as in California and Minnesota. Her info can be found on Avvo.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.