Lowering the Bar: How Lawyer Discipline in New York Fails to Protect the Public

摘要

A study of all lawyer discipline cases in New York from mid-2008 through 2013 and many cases in earlier decades reveals that the system for lawyer discipline in New York is seriously deficient. Clients are not protected. The cases take far too long, often many years. Sanctions are dramatically inconsistent. There is no statewide effort to reconcile different sanctions in different courts. Many cases do not attempt to reconcile sanctions with those in similar cases from the same court. Secrecy is rampant. In the small number of cases where discipline is public, a prospective client cannot easily discover a lawyeru27s disciplinary record.