According to the 2022-23 Report of the Office of General Counsel of the State Bar of Georgia, the bar reviewed 2,501 bar grievances reporting misconduct by Georgia attorneys for that term. Although the majority of the grievances were ultimately closed or dismissed “for their failure to state facts sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the State Bar,” the fact remains that lawyers may be faced with the threat of a bar complaint during their careers.

Sometimes a lawyer may observe conduct by another lawyer that appears to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct. In those instances, a reporting lawyer can consider whether the Rules require reporting and, if reporting is appropriate, when such a report should occur. For instance, reporting a lawyer to the bar during an ongoing litigation can sometimes seem like a tactic. The lawyer may also wonder whether it is an option to notify the offending lawyer that, if the matter does not resolve favorably, the lawyer will report the offending lawyer to the Bar. Is this ethical?