Happy New Year

The January 2015 edition of the Washington Lawyer features an interview with the current chair of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility.

There is the usual lip service paid to the protection of the public as a goal of the disciplinary system.

But the most interesting question posed is the following

How long, beginning to end, do the [disciplinary] proceedings usually last?

The response was, as we lawyers say, non-responsive

I would say there is really no typical length to the proceedings. There are so many factors that determine whether a proceeding takes a long or a short period of time. The length of procedings typically depends on the complexity of a case and of the legal issues presented, including the number of violations and the number of complainants – perhaps it is only a single person who is complaining, in other instances, we could have five or 10 complainants in a case.

There are many checks and balances in the system, and there is a lot of due process, and with that the possibility of delay. We want to make sure that every party involved is treated fairly, and the important thing is to get it right. Certainly, we always try to move cases along as quicky as possible, but sometimes they can take more time than we would like because of the nature of the process.

Yes, a big part of the problem is “the nature of the process.”

What I’ve never seen from the BPR (or the Court of Appeals) is any inclination to improve that process.

Now, if the BPR issued an annual report, the public might get a sense of the real answer to the “long long does it take” question. And heads might roll.

My take: It is rare for a prosecuted case to conclude in less than five years. Often cases take a whole lot longer than that.

The situation has not been helped by the last good idea, the rule that permits consent dispositions.

The reason: The BPR has been deeply hostile to the rule since it was created. Bar Counsel has learned that it is a waste of time and resources to even try to resolve matters through consent dispositions.

In any event, I have a few follow up questions:

1. Are there any hearing committee reports that are nearly seven years overdue? (Hint: yes).

2. How many reports are more than a year overdue? Two years? Three years?

3. Why do Bar Counsel charges sit in the BPR office for up to a year without being reviewed by a contact member, creating inexplicable and unnecessary delay in addressing the merits?

4. How long do cases take when the accused attorney defaults or otherwise refuses to participate? (Hint: defaults are verboten)

5. How many Bar Counsel investigations in the last ten years have taken five or more years simply to determine whether or not to file charges?

I am personally aware of an investigation (never deferred) that took eight years to get dismissed. During those years, Bar Counsel conducted virtually no investigation as the case was passed from one attorney to another.

6. Is there a reason that no annual reports that would allow the public to evaluate efficiency has ever been issued in the District of Columbia?

I’ll let you know if there are any responses forthcoming. (Mike Frisch)