Cynthia Baldwin and the campus of Penn State University Cynthia Baldwin and the campus of Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered that the Pennsylvania State University former general counsel receive a public reprimand for failing to disclose a conflict of interest between three former Penn State employees and the university in matters connected to the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

Cynthia Baldwin will be publicly reprimanded by the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She has also been ordered to pay the costs of the investigation and prosecution.

The Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel claimed Baldwin, who formerly served as a justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 2006 to 2008, violated Rules 1.1, 1.6, 1.7 and 8.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Specifically, the office claimed Baldwin did not notify her clients of a conflict of interest with the university and that she broke attorney-client privilege when she testified before a grand jury.

Baldwin represented two Penn State officials, former vice president Gary Schultz and president Graham Spanier, and athletic coach Tim Curley when they were asked to testify before a statewide grand jury investigating matters related to the child abuse accusations against Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State now serving prison time for sex abuse charges.

In a 71-page opinion, the state's high court found Baldwin failed to protect her clients' right to competent counsel. Specifically, she failed to let Schultz, Curley and Spanier know of a conflict of interest between them and the university that she represented as general counsel. The high court further found Schultz, Curley and Spanier did not consent to disclose private information in grand jury testimony.

The state's high court noted that Baldwin is "unlikely to violate our Rules of Professional conduct again." The court noted that she "has had an unblemished record" in her 20 years of holding a law license in Pennsylvania.

A representative from the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.

Baldwin is represented by Charles DeMonaco, partner at Fox Rothschild in Pittsburgh, and Robert Tintner, a partner at Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia. In a statement made on Baldwin's behalf, Tintner said in an email to Corporate Counsel: "We are disappointed with the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision, particularly after the factual findings of a judge of the court of common pleas and the hearing committee who held evidentiary hearings and concluded that our client did not breach any ethical rules."

Tintner noted the high court did not find Baldwin was intentionally dishonest.

"Notwithstanding the adverse decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania today, the Supreme Court did find that Ms. Baldwin did not engage in conduct reflecting any intentional dishonesty and that her 40-year career had been previously unblemished," Tintner said.

Justice Christine Donohue authored the opinion. Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht joined the opinion.

Chief Justice Thomas Saylor and Justices Max Baer and Debra Todd did not participate in the decision.

Read More:

Pa. Supreme Court Suspends Fina's Law License Over Actions in Penn State Abuse Prosecution