Five Strikes And Not Out

We just reported a suspension of a year and a day in Pennsylvania for a third instance of neglect, with two justices dissenting for a more severe sanction.

Then, we see this decision imposing censure by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The Disciplinary Review Board noted

We note that this is respondent’s fifth brush with the disciplinary system. His previous run-ins have resulted in an admonition, two reprimands and a censure. All but the censure were imposed before respondent began his representation in the matter before us. However, the representation here was ongoing when the censure was imposed. Not only has respondent failed to learn from mistakes, he has, as we observed in our decision imposing his 2011 censure, a “propensity to violate” the Rules…

I’ve been teaching my classes about the profound differences between state bar regulatory systems.

I wonder how Pennsylvania and New Jersey (which, I imagine, share authority over a large number of attorneys) deal with the disparate standards in reciprocal discipline matters. (Mike Frisch)