A Busy Year In Pennsylvania: Record Number Of Disbarments

From the web page of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board

The Disciplinary Board has issued its Annual Report and updated Discipline Chart.

The disciplinary system had a busy year, reaching 296 determinations, up 19% from 248 in 2013. Informal admonitions were up by 58% (from 48 to 76), suspensions by 31% (to 42 from 32), and disbarments by 15% (46 from 40). This was the greatest number of disbarments in the history of the Disciplinary Board, surpassing 45 in 2010. Continuing a trend toward discipline by consent, 14 suspensions and 28 disbarments were by consent. Reinstatements rose by 34% (107 from 80), while only one reinstatement was denied. 91 of the reinstatements (85%) ended inactive or retired status or administrative suspension; only 16 followed disciplinary suspension or disbarment.

A few highlights from the Annual Report:

• The number of attorneys as of December 31, 2014 was 64,161 active and 10,805 inactive paid attorneys. In 1972-1973, the first year of the Disciplinary Board, there were 13,057 active attorneys. 
• During the 2014 year, 24 Joint Petitions in Support of Discipline on Consent were filed with the Board.19 joint petitions were approved and one was denied. Of those approved, two resulted in private discipline and 17 resulted in public discipline. Four joint petitions remained pending as of December 31.
• At the request of the Board, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, the Executive Director and the Secretary of the Board have taken steps to speed up the disposition of complaints. The Board believes complainants and respondents deserve to have cases handled promptly.
• Four sets of rules amendments were approved, including major amendments regarding the handling of client funds approved by the Supreme Court on December 30, 2014.
• In July, the Board agreed to change the notices published in the daily paper and legal journal when attorneys are suspended or disbarred to include the attorney’s ID number as well as his or her last public address of record, to avoid embarrassment to other attorneys with similar names. In addition, the Board received permission from the Supreme Court to begin issuing regional press releases when attorneys are suspended or disbarred to expand the coverage beyond the county where the attorneys maintained their offices.

As always, any transparency about bar discipline is most welcome.

Wish the impulse would spread south to D.C. (Mike Frisch)