Ex-Senate Majority Leader Gets Law License Back
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Former Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger is once again free to practice law, following his suspension for misusing money from a client's lawsuit settlement.
The Supreme Court reinstated Hottinger's license in an order made public Wednesday.
The order says Hottinger applied for reinstatement in June, and a panel of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board found he was "competent and morally fit" to practice law.
Hottinger will be on probation for two years.
Hottinger is a Democrat who left the Legislature after the 2006 session. He served 16 years, and was the Senate's leader during the 2003 session.
He was suspended in 2007, and admitted he borrowed $8,820 from a client's settlement funds to help pay his mortgage. He said he had always planned to replenish the account.
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