Help the State Bar revise the Rules
of Professional Conduct
By Justice Lee Edmon
The State Bar of California recently appointed a commission
to conduct a comprehensive study of the Rules of Professional Conduct and to
recommend amendments.
But we need your help.
The State Bar’s Commission for the Revision of the Rules
of Professional Conduct invites interested persons to provide proposals for
changes to the California Rules of Professional Conduct that should be
studied by the commission. Written comments must be submitted by June 16.
The rules are the State Bar’s attorney disciplinary
standards, the violation of which will subject an attorney to State Bar
sanctions such as reproval, suspension or disbarment. By statute (Bus. &
Prof. Code § 6076), the State Bar is authorized to formulate professional
conduct rules that are submitted to the California Supreme Court for
approval.
The commission’s charter from the State Bar defines the scope:
The commission is charged with conducting a comprehensive
review of the existing California Rules of Professional Conduct and preparing
a new set of proposed rules and comments for approval by the Board of
Trustees and submission to the Supreme Court no later than March 31, 2017. In
conducting its review of the existing rules and developing proposed
amendments to the rules, the commission should be guided by the following
principles:
1. The commission’s work should promote confidence in the
legal profession and the administration of justice and ensure adequate
protection to the public.
2. The commission should consider the historical purpose
of the Rules of Professional Conduct in California, and ensure that the
proposed rules set forth a clear and enforceable articulation of disciplinary
standards, as opposed to purely aspirational objectives.
3. The commission should begin with the current rules and
focus on revisions that (a) are necessary to address changes in law and (b) eliminate,
when and if appropriate, unnecessary differences between California’s rules
and the rules used by a preponderance of the states (in some cases in
reliance on the American Bar Association’s Model Rules) in order to help
promote a national standard with respect to professional responsibility
issues whenever possible.
4. The commission’s work should facilitate compliance with
and enforcement of the rules by eliminating ambiguities and uncertainties.
5. Substantive information about the conduct governed by
the rule should be included in the rule itself. Official commentary to the
proposed rules should not conflict with the language of the rules and should
be used sparingly to elucidate and not to expand upon, the rules themselves.
The proposed amendments developed by the commission should be accompanied by
a report setting forth the commission’s rationale for retaining or changing
any rule and related commentary language.
To assist in its study, the commission is soliciting written
comments from the public, consumers of legal services, members of the bar, the
judiciary and any other interested persons or groups, including local bar
associations. The commission hopes to receive comments from consumers of
legal services, as well as a broad and diverse cross-section of the legal profession,
including, by way of example and without limitation, criminal defense lawyers
and prosecutors, trusts and estates lawyers, respondents’ counsel,
transactional lawyers, public interest lawyers and commercial litigators.
The commission invites input as to what amendments to the
Rules of Professional Conduct warrant consideration and study. Although the commission’s
charter indicates that the focus of the commission’s work is on the existing
rules, the commission also welcomes comments suggesting additional items for study
during the revision process, including proposed new rules and rule deletions.
The commission also welcomes comments identifying and discussing existing
rules, if any, that should not be altered.
This request for your initial input is in addition to the
public comment opportunity that will be provided once the commission has
drafted a comprehensive proposal for rule amendments. The goal of this
preliminary public comment process is to afford interested persons or groups an
early opportunity to be heard on this important project.
Submit your comments on an online form: http://bit.ly/2dRRCInitialPC.
Written comments can also be sent to: Audrey Hollins, Professional
Competence Unit, State Bar of California, 180 Howard St., San Francisco,
California, 94105-1639; audrey.hollins@calbar.ca.gov.
In addition, the commission’s memo formally seeking
written comment is posted at the State Bar's website, www.calbar.ca.gov under the “Public
Comment” link. The full text of the current
Rules of Professional Conduct is also online under the “Ethics” link.
For more information about the commission, contact the
bar’s Director of Professional Competence Randall Difuntorum at 415-538-2161.
The Honorable Lee Edmon, presiding justice of Division
Three for the 2nd District Court of Appeal, is chair of the Commission for
the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct.