In arguments before Austin's Third Court of Appeals, a man whose grievance against a lawyer was dismissed argued that attorney discipline administrators misinterpreted rules and acted outside of their authority when they denied him a copy of their dismissal recommendation.

The “John Doe” litigant was the first of at least three people within the past 14 months who have voiced concerns and raised questions about the reasons why the State Bar of Texas Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel (CDC) and other entities in the attorney disciplinary system dismiss grievances, and the information they share with complainants about dismissals.

“I have to stop and think: Why are they resisting this? This is something they should be wanting to give us,” said Gaines West, who represents the appellant, during the Sept. 16 oral argument. “We have the bar wanting to keep a 'Star Chamber' environment to make a decision on who they want to prosecute and who they don't want to prosecute.”