Conflict of Interest In Attorney Ethics (legal, attorneys, insurance, governor)

[ProudCapMarine]

Many states have Attorney Ethics Committees that investigate Legal Malpractice charges against attorneys.

These committees are broken down into local districts. Sometimes, an attorney can have his own practice or be a member of a law firm; and at the same time, he or she can be serving on his local attorney ethics committee.

If legal malpractice complaints were being brought against an attorney, who is actually serving on his local attorney ethics committee, do you believe it is a "Conflict of Interest" for his own committee to judge the charges against him?

The legal malpractice charges being brought against him are for ethics violations committed by him and the law firm that he works for. The charges have nothing to do with him serving on the attorney ethics committee.

This attorney is not only serving on his local attorney ethics committee, but he is also the committee's vice-chairman.

Do do you believe it is a "Conflict of Interest" for his own committee to judge the charges against him?

[Miborn]

It is a Conflict of Interest. Another committee should judge the charges against him.
Otherwise you will have back door dealings and cover ups.

[ProudCapMarine]

Originally Posted by Miborn

It is a Conflict of Interest. Another committee should judge the charges against him.
Otherwise you will have back door dealings and cover ups.

Thanks for your opinion. It has been a cover-up for seven years now.

It has been covered up by the state's Office of Attorney Ethics, Attorney General and Governor's office.

[saganista]

Should one be judged by a jury of one's peers? If so, what better forum in which to examine charges of legal malpractice than among those of similar background, training, and experience. The man in the street, after all, is no fit judge of complex legal matters in which he has had no training at all.

[brbrdl]

Because he is on the ethics committee he should be judged by another group besides the one he chairs on. My first thought is that he has abused his position. Made a mockery of the ethics committee. Shame on him.

[tinman01]

I didnt know that attorneys even had ethics.... Based on their shameless ambulance chasing ads and their pandering to anyone who is sick trying to convince all of america we need to sue someone for anything if not everything. Then they of course keep 45% for themselves.
No Lawyers are damned short on ethics.

[Manigault]

First of all, a malpractice complaint is not necessarily an ethics complaint. The two offenses are very different.

Secondly, all of this is very much a creature of state law so check the local regulations.

If an ethics complaint is brought against a member of an ethics panel, then the respondent does not deal with the substance of the complaint against him or her. He recuses himself or herself.

Sometimes somebody has to do the dirty deed. I had a real funny conversation with a retired judge one night. I recognized him from a case where he had to preside over whether or not judges in the state should get a raise. Talk about a conflict of interest!

[ProudCapMarine]

Originally Posted by brbrdl

Because he is on the ethics committee he should be judged by another group besides the one he chairs on. My first thought is that he has abused his position. Made a mockery of the ethics committee. Shame on him.

Without permission from the client, the law firm's partners relaced the case's orginal attorney, who screwed up, with this Attorney Ethics vice-chairman, because they knew he would be able to protect his law firm from Legal Malpractice charges.

[Manigault]

Legal malpractice is actionable, that is, you get to sue the lawyer for it and collect damages. That happens in a law court. Malpractice, even if proven, is not necessarily an attorney ethics violation. Conflict of interest is an attorney ethics violation.

Attorney ethics charges are handled (in most cases) by a commission of the state supreme court. You don't receive damages, in most cases, if an attorney is found to have committed an ethics violation. Ethics cases are not handled in the courts.

Depending on a particular jurisdiction, your results may vary.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by ProudCapMarine

Without permission from the client, the law firm's partners relaced the case's orginal attorney, who screwed up, with this Attorney Ethics vice-chairman, because they knew he would be able to protect his law firm from Legal Malpractice charges.

I worked specifically in legal malpractice insurance for about 6 years and have seen many hundreds of claims of all types.

The most common cause of being sued for legal malpractice is missing a filing deadline causing the case to be tossed out and dead in the water. This isn't an ethics violation but rather an error.

If an attorney makes an error on a case you can still sue them for legal malpractice without even having an ethics violation. Heck, you can sue them if you are just unhappy with the performance of the firm.

Best of luck.