PA Reviewing Joining 40 States With Open Lawyer Disciplinary System
(Camp Hill, PA) - The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, a 16-member independent agency created by the Supreme Court which has complete oversight and investigative power to review the conduct of Pennsylvania lawyers, has proposed amendments to the established process of disciplinary proceedings. The traditional method of conducting inquiries and disciplinary procedures abides by a confidentiality rule. The proposed rule change would revise the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct to amend the confidentiality regulation currently in existence.
In 1979 the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted a policy which recommends that disciplinary proceedings be made public upon the filing of formal charges. Since that time many states have reviewed their disciplinary processes, opening their systems to public scrutiny. Presently, 40 of 51 jurisdictions in the United States allow public access to proceedings. Pennsylvania is one of the jurisdictions with a closed system. In a report compiled by the ABA entitled, "National Lawyer Population by State, 2003," Pennsylvania ranked second in number of lawyers (40,562) in a jurisdiction with a closed disciplinary system. Only New York had a larger number of lawyers (137,108) in states which operate with closed systems. In addition to New York and Pennsylvania, Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming hold disciplinary proceedings under rules of confidentiality.
Of the ten most populous states in the U.S., California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia and North Carolina, only two have closed disciplinary systems - New York and Pennsylvania. And, of the fifteen states with the most lawyers, each having over 20,000 actively practitioners, only three have closed systems - New York, Pennsylvania and Missouri.
Currently, the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board is soliciting written comments from the public and the legal profession regarding the proposed change to the rules of confidentiality which currently exist. According to Louis N. Teti, Esquire, chairman of the Disciplinary Board in Pennsylvania, "Allowing public access to proceedings has been adopted by 40 of 51 jurisdictions throughout the United States. We believe that it is our duty as board members to thoroughly review and evaluate the benefits and/or disadvantages of this initiative, and solicit public comment before submitting our formal recommendations to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania."
The comment period, initially slated to conclude on July 30, 2004, has now been extended to end on September 30, 2004. After the conclusion of the comment period The Disciplinary Board will consider the comments, determine whether revisions are necessary to the proposed Pennsylvania Rule of Disciplinary Enforcement 402, and then decide whether to submit the proposed rule changes to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for formal adoption.
The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to review conduct and assure compliance by all attorneys to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. For more information about the Disciplinary Board please visit www.padisciplinaryboard.org or contact Karen Gross at (717) 975-2148 or kgross@hersheyphilbin.com.