Attorney Discipline and Ethics Update by Stark Ligon
Stark Ligon, licensed in 1975, has been Executive Director ofthe ArkallsllS Supreme Court Office of Professional Conduct since january 2001, and is a former circuit judge, chancellor, chief counsel to a governor, pmcticing attorney, Army stille judge Ildvo(flU, nudiator and arbitrator.
This annual summary update is mainly positive and only slighdy negative. The positive news is that the overwhelming majority of Arkansas lawyers conrinue to be ethical counselors and champions for their c1iems, what we al the Office of Professional Conduct caU our "silent majority." Thanks to all of you in this category! However, while the number of informal complaints received from all sources in 2002 remained aoom the same as in 2001, formal disciplinary complaims filed in 2002 jumped by 25 percem to 186. Twenty-four anorneys each had more than one public sanction imposed in 2002. Our filings of formal complainrs in 2003 to date are on pace with 2002. Disbarment complaints appear to be trending upward, and we expect to have at least seven in process by mid-year. \Y/e can only hope that educational efforts by this office and the bar, appropriate disciplinary vigilance, and self-policing by the bench and bar keep this from becoming a long-term trend. As in previous years, the largest area of complaints from the public involves what we call
12 TI,e Arkansas la-ryer www.arkbar.com
"neglect of clients and their legal matters" and "failure to communicate" situations. Attorney Trust Accounts. Effective July I, 2002, a new Supreme Coun rule requires banks to repon to this office all instances of attorney trust accoum "insufficiencies," whether the bank refused {O honor the check or did pay it, if the transaction created a negative balance in the account at the time. Our first 10 months' experience with this new program has been surprisingly positive! The overwhelming majority of reports have been caused by unintentional errors-by attorneys and even by banks. The most common mistakes are failure to make timely depositS, bookkeeping errors at law offices, and client checks thar "bounce," causing problems in the trust account into which each was deposited by an unsuspecting lawyer. Out of over 60 notices received at the time this arricle was written, probably only a handful will result in formal complaints. The most disturbing revelation to come from this new rule is the apparent lack of knowledge by many lawyers of the basics of attorney trust