Does Texas Have Enough Resources to Discipline Unethical Attorneys?
Austin legal ethics solo practitioner Jim McCormack, a former Texas Bar chief disciplinary counsel, said the state is "doing 2019 grievance work with a 1991 grievance system."
September 25, 2019 at 02:59 PM
6 minute read
Attorney discipline statistics in Texas over the past 10 years show a grievance system that's surprisingly flat, despite steady increases in the state's lawyer population.
The number of complaints that ended in sanctions climbed and dipped over the decade with no clear trend but always stayed in the range 400 to 600 per year. The number of sanctions is lower because one attorney might have multiple complaints resolved with one sanction.
But over the past 10 years, the disciplinary counsel's office has doled out between 315 to 415 sanctions each year.
'1991 grievance system'
Austin legal ethics solo practitioner Jim McCormack, a former Texas Bar chief disciplinary counsel, said those total sanction numbers are on par with a review he did many years ago that looked at the grievance system spanning back to the 1990s.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'Fire All the Bullets Now': EEOC Enforcements Surge
- 4'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
- 5Suspect in Courthouse Bombing Was Targeting Judge, Deputies, Say Prosecutors
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250