Kentucky's system for policing lawyers accused of misconduct to be reviewed
The American Bar Association will review Kentucky’s oft-maligned system for disciplining attorneys
The Kentucky Supreme Court and Kentucky Bar Association announced this week that the ABA’S Standing Committee on Professional Regulation will examine Kentucky’s system for dealing with alleged lawyer misconduct.
The Kentucky Bar Association and high court jointly requested the review “in the interest of creating efficiencies within the system, protecting the public, ensuring due process, and safeguarding the integrity of the legal profession.”
The Kentucky Bar Association asked the court to have the national bar association conduct the review.
It will take place at the Kentucky Bar Center in Frankfort during the first week of December, with a final report being submitted to the court in the spring.
Kentucky Bar Association President Amy Cubbage, a Louisville attorney, said she participated in the disciplinary system for nine years and “it’s apparent that while we do a lot right, we could use some procedural updates.”
More:Lawyer misconduct charges in Kentucky have long been secret. Why that's about to change
The Courier Journal has reported that for decades, the Kentucky Bar Association and the state Supreme Court leaned toward protecting attorneys rather than the public. In 39 states, including Indiana, complaints against lawyers are made public once probable cause is found for the allegations — or even sooner. But in Kentucky, by rule, they had been kept secret unless the accused lawyer is found guilty. That meant an unsuspecting client could select an attorney without knowing if he or she was the target of serious or multiple charges.
In March, however, Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. announced the court had unanimously agreed to amend its rules to open the process once a lawyer is formally charged with misconduct and given a chance to respond.
Minton said the amended rule "strikes the appropriate balance" between protecting lawyers and the public and brought Kentucky into conformity with the majority of states.
The Kentucky Bar Association drew criticism earlier this month when The Courier Journal disclosed that a disciplinary panel had filed a bar complaint against Louisville attorney Thomas Clay for failing to report a prosecutor had traded favors with a criminal defendant in exchange for nude images of her.
The complaint said Clay violated what is known informally as the "squeal rule" that requires lawyers to report to the bar when he or she knows another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Misconduct.
Critics said the proposed sanction was absurd because Clay reported it to Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Goldy Jr., to the FBI and made the scandal public knowledge, resulting in Goldy’s suspension.
In the past, some attorneys and bar leaders have said complaints against lawyers needed to be kept secret because an attorney’s reputation could be ruined based on bogus complaints from unhappy clients. Twice, the Kentucky Supreme Court considered and rejected proposals to change the rule, including once under Minton.
But the American Bar Association said in a 2018 report that in three states where complaints against lawyers become public as soon as they are filed — Florida, Oregon and West Virginia — there was no evidence of any harm to lawyers.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: ABA to look at how Kentucky disciplines lawyer misconduct
