Hunter Biden will permanently lose his ability to practice law in Washington, D.C., after consenting to a disciplinary agency’s recommendation for disbarment. This is the latest development in his ongoing legal issues.
The 55-year-old son of former President Joe Biden submitted a sealed affidavit to the D.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, expressing his “consent to disbarment.” The court still needs to formally approve the recommendation from the D.C. Bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility for the disbarment to take effect.
This voluntary decision allows Biden to avoid lengthy proceedings regarding whether his criminal cases necessitated the revocation of his law license. His license was initially suspended in June 2024, shortly after he was convicted in a Delaware federal court of providing false information about his drug use to acquire a firearm.
Biden graduated from Yale Law School in 1996 and was admitted to the Washington, D.C., Bar in 2007. Although he paid $331 annually to keep his membership, records show he never actively practiced law in D.C. However, during his father’s vice presidency, he was “of counsel” at the Democrat-associated law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
Disciplinary measures began after Biden’s gun conviction last year. He was found guilty on three felony counts related to his 2018 revolver purchase, which involved falsifying information on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using drugs or addicted to them.
“The D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel initiated the legal proceedings to suspend Hunter’s law license,” according to court documents. Under D.C. Bar rules, a felony conviction is considered a “serious crime” that requires the court to take disciplinary action.
The court then instructed the Board on Professional Responsibility to “institute a formal proceeding to determine the nature of the offense and whether it involves moral turpitude,” a process that concluded with Biden’s agreement to disbarment this week.
Biden faced additional legal problems beyond the gun case, including a guilty plea in September 2024 to nine other charges, comprising three felonies and six misdemeanors, for evading $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence that Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to evade tax assessment, including withdrawing millions outside of the payroll and tax withholding process. They claimed he spent millions on a lavish lifestyle instead of paying his taxes and willfully failed to file his 2017 and 2018 tax returns on time.
In December 2024, just weeks before leaving office, former President Joe Biden granted his son a “full and unconditional” pardon, despite previous public assurances that he would not interfere in Hunter’s legal matters. The pardon occurred while Hunter was still awaiting sentencing in both cases.
According to the Department of Justice, the combined charges could have led to up to 42 years in prison, though as a first-time offender, Biden likely would have received a considerably lighter sentence.
Following his father’s pardon, the underlying issues related to Biden’s convictions will no longer be publicly discussed in the context of his disbarment. The terms of the consent agreement prevent the release of the details contained in the affidavit he was required to file.
Biden, currently residing in Southern California, holds a law license in Connecticut that is presently under administrative suspension due to an unpaid reinstatement fee, as stated in state records.
Despite relinquishing his law license, Biden remains involved in at least one ongoing legal matter. Court documents indicate he has filed a federal libel suit against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in the Central District of California, where attorney Dick Harpootlian will represent him.
The D.C. Court of Appeals typically accepts such voluntary disbarment recommendations from the disciplinary board, making it likely that Biden’s legal career in the nation’s capital will soon be officially terminated.
This event marks the end of one chapter in Biden’s professional life, though his artistic endeavors, which he has pursued since 2020, remain unaffected by these legal proceedings.
