Professional Discipline Committee
The Professional Discipline Committee studies and monitors the role and function of the lawyer discipline and licensing process. The Committee reviews the practices and performance of the attorney disciplinary agencies in New York City, and issues reports and recommends rule and policy changes to the Appellate Divisions and the Office of Court Administration to improve the regulation of the legal profession. The Committee examines the rules, regulations and statutes regulating lawyer and law firm conduct as well as the procedural rules governing the disciplinary system. The Committee prepares and files amicus briefs, sponsors CLE programs on professional ethics-related topics, and collaborates with the Committees on Professional Ethics and Professional Responsibility on joint projects to amend and improve the Rules of Professional Conduct and other ethics-related statutes. The Committee oversees the City Bar’s Complaint Mediation Panel which mediates client/lawyer disputes (other than fee disputes) and seeks to amicably resolve minor client complaints referred by the Departmental Disciplinary Committee in the First Department.
Related Resources
Report in support of proposed new Section 523 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals authorizing the temporary practice of law in New York State by out-of-state and foreign attorneys (October 2015) ( PDF format )
Subject area: Temporary Practice
Testimony before the Chief Judge’s Commission on Statewide Attorney Discipline (August 2015) ( PDF format )
Subject area: Disciplinary Proceedings
Reports Concerning Discover in Disciplinary Proceedings Adopted By The NYSBA’s Committee On Professional Discipline ( PDF format )
Subject area: Disciplinary Proceedings
For the full list of committee reports click her
Of Interest
Speaking to a room of recent law graduates participating in the City Bar’s New Lawyer Institute, members of the Professional Discipline Committee led a panel discussion on how to get admitted to the First or Second Department. The panel discussed best practices for filling out and filing application papers and addressed a number of the pitfalls to be wary of. A list of helpful resources was also distributed.
