No. of Recommendations: 3
As I understand it, every state has a collection of Rules of Professional Conduct used to measure the behavior of lawyers against some set of norms and decide whether penalties or removal from the bar are appropriate for cases of alleged misconduct. I'm pretty sure they all include language similar to this found in the American Bar Association's version of RPC:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_re...(a) A lawyer shall not knowingly:
(1) make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer;
(2) fail to disclose to the tribunal legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to the lawyer to be directly adverse to the position of the client and not disclosed by opposing counsel; or
(3) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer, the lawyer’s client, or a witness called by the lawyer, has offered material evidence and the lawyer comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal. A lawyer may refuse to offer evidence, other than the testimony of a defendant in a criminal matter, that the lawyer reasonably believes is false.
(b) A lawyer who represents a client in an adjudicative proceeding and who knows that a person intends to engage, is engaging or has engaged in criminal or fraudulent conduct related to the proceeding shall take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal.Within the financial industry, there is an organization authorized by Congress called FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) that provides a central clearing house of employment history information that is updated by employers any time an employee is fired for fraud, theft, violations of fiduciary responsibility to clients, etc. This clearinghouse of information allows FINRA to impose an employment ban on any individual who commits violations of financial ethics or actual criminal offenses. No other FINRA registered firm will hire that person.
One would think the legal profession would have a similar national registry established that would notify all state bar associations any time any lawyer in any state is convicted of a crime directly related to their work in a court room or work on behalf of a client.
WTH
