Web Access To Bar Discipline Information: The Critical Component Of Transparency

The web page of the Colorado Supreme Court was recently redesigned as noted below

By JAMES C. COYLE, Attorney Regulation Counsel
Spring 2016

The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel new website, unveiled this spring, is a reflection of the Office’s continued efforts to promote professionalism and protect the public.

The website at www.coloradosupremecourt.com includes numerous resources intended to help attorneys be better attorneys and help members of the public better understand how to navigate the legal community.

The Office, for instance, developed a guide to “Hiring and Working with Your Attorney” that educates people on what to expect when engaging a lawyer. Another page consolidates links to services that may help those who can’t afford traditional legal representation. And there is an entire section with practice management resources for attorneys, including tools such as the Self-Audit Checklist, a link to ethics opinions, and downloadable registration forms for the Office’s Trust Account School.

The easy-to-navigate interface aims to help our 30,000-50,000 monthly visitors find their way to their intended site location quickly.

The site was designed using the latest in advanced web development tools and languages, including HTML5, CSS 3.0, and Active Server Pages. By using the latest in JavaScript, the site will format to any current electronic device such as cell phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.

Phase two projects include calendars for upcoming events in each department, pop-up charts for attorney demographics, portals to self-assessment forms that lawyers can use and legal check-up forms for consumer use, and videos to explain the office processes and for other educational purposes.

I daresay that I am among the most frequent visitors to state court/bar web pages rooting out information concerning bar discipline. Access and transparency of these web pages is the lifeblood of this blog. We would not exist without it.

I generally have no issues with Colorado, as I do with the many states that make this information as inaccessible as possible.

But the changed web page has made it far more difficult  to find information about the most recent disciplinary cases, which used to be just one click away. 

I hope Colorado adds the link to its most current cases,  if nothing more than out of selfish blogging purpose. I also believe that such access is very much in the public interest. 

A “recent decision” link is a most useful function. Massachusetts, for instance, posts all its cases but only in alphabetical order. To find the new decisions, one has to scroll through the whole Megillah to find the 2016 decisions. Pity the poor blogger.

Connie, help!

The best information – access state bar web pages (the roll of honor) are North Carolina, Illinois,  Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania (they really care about transparency), Louisiana, Kansas (with oral argument video), New Jersey (although I generally don’t like what I read), Maine (information at Bar Overseers web page) and the District of Columbia.

If readers are surprised by my inclusion of D.C., note that the web page in a single place provides easy access to all informal admonitions, hearing committee reports, board reports and court decisions. D.C. even has a “recent case” function. 

That puts a jurisdiction close to Mount Rushmore status. 

If you want to understand a bar case from soup to nuts, North Carolina is the creme de la creme of access. I could write a book about what they are doing right. 

If every jurisdiction followed the North Carolina model, I’d need a staff to do this blog properly.

Many courts post their disciplinary decisions but not the underlying reports. The above-named jurisdictions do provide web access to board reports and (in some instances) charging documents (they are public in D.C. but not posted online).

In many jurisdictions, the only way to search discipline decisions is to enter an attorney’s name. This limitation renders it far more difficult to evaluate the overall functioning of that  system. 

Oregon has an open system but I have found it impossible to find anything save for court decisions about their discipline cases. If I’m missing the way to access recent Oregon bar discipline cases, I’d appreciate the information.

And any jurisdiction that has a video library where bar discipline arguments are preserved for review deserves kudos as well. Hat tip to Kansas, Ohio and Maryland.  (Mike Frisch)