The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is responsible for holding attorneys accountable. It regularly posts information about its rulings online and in legal trade publications, but that goes unnoticed by most people outside of the legal community.
The board has a longstanding practice of publishing legal notices in the classified sections of local newspapers to alert the public about its actions. But that fine print also isn't looked at by many readers. So the board announced earlier this month it would begin sending news releases to media outlets in communities where the lawyers do business to try and garner more headlines.
The board said in a news release it is making the change partly because of a situation earlier this year in Dauphin County where an attorney who was forced to surrender his law license failed to notify his clients, some of whom claimed they were bilked out of millions of dollars.
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Lawyer Disciplinary Decisions Will be Publicized More
READ the news release
How about for judges? Does the public know who - or what - they'e voting for?
ReplyDeleteIt is about time! I did not know that my last attorney did not have his licence renewed and was waiting for him to file with the PA Disciplinary Board against the Attorney/Guardian! I was told to have a lawyer do this! On to more filing! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Thelma. All this secrecy just protects the offenders.
ReplyDeleteThe PA disciplinary board did nothing to discipline Diane Zabowski or Julianna Van Dun-King when both violated several rules of professional conduct. In my opinion, the PA disciplinary board is a joke. Where are the checks and balances in place for a corrupt disciplinary board? The PA disciplinary board allegedly disbars attorneys who are vocal about the corrupt judicial system in PA. Please see the following links.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.avvo.com/attorneys/19426-pa-diane-zabowski-581595.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317251/-Lawyers-Who-Criticize-Judges-Are-Being-Punished-Jonathan-Turley#
The PA disciplinary board should be forced to have all complaints filed to them on display at their web site whether they choose to discipline them or not. They should also have their letters of response on display and any information they gather on display so that the citizens of PA can determine if something is afoul based on the BS that they read at their site, e.g. the judge is okay with the misconduct of (insert attorney name here) so therefore, the disciplinary board is too.