Commission for Lawyer Discipline - State Bar of Texas

Office of Chief Disciplinary CounselThe Texas attorney discipline system is administered by the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel (CDC), which isdesigned to be the “Bar’s law office,” and whose work is overseen by the Commission for Lawyer Discipline. The CDCrepresents the Commission in disciplinary litigation. Professionalism and results are directly tied to the public’sperception of the ability of the State Bar of Texas to discipline its own lawyers and protect the public from unethicalpractitioners. In recognition of this close connection, emphasis is placed on the quality of disciplinary prosecutions,identification of disability or impairment problems, solutions for attorneys in need of law practice management orother basic skills, and innovative ways to maintain open communication between the public and the Bar.STAFFING AND TRAININGThe Chief Disciplinary Counsel operates the discipline system with 90 full-time employees, including 34 lawyers, 10investigators, 31 legal support staff, 11 administrative support staff, and 4 administrative managers. In addition to itsheadquarters in Austin, the CDC has Regional Offices in San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. Each Regional Office isresponsible for the investigation and prosecution of disciplinary matters within its region and is managed by aRegional Counsel.This past Bar year, the CDC held two system-wide in-house training programs. The first was a comprehensive two-dayAttorney Workshop in October 2010 attended by staff attorneys from CDC’s Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houstonoffices. This workshop covered key aspects of the attorney discipline process, including a review of procedural andsubstantive law, training in trial and appellate matters, and a review of recent ethics opinions. Specialized sessionsincluded topics such as immigration, barratry, trust account violations, grievance referral, compliance, client securityfund, and conflict of interest cases. The second program was a Regional Office Managers conference held in April 2011.Facilitated by Executive Administrative Manager Anne McKenna and attended by each of CDC’s regional officemanagers, the program topics covered a full range of routine and non-routine responsibilities to ensure consistencyin processes, improve efficiencies, and to explore cost-saving ideas in necessary expenses. CDC also provides twocomprehensive in-house orientation programs for all new hires statewide — one for lawyers and one for non-lawyerstaff. The orientation is held on the employee’s first day of work and provides an overview of the core functions of theorganization as a whole, as well as a detailed review of the work of the CDC.CDC sent three of its regional investigators to the 2010 Organization of Bar Investigators (OBI) training conference:Jolene Bartlett of Dallas; Patricia Teinert of Houston; and Marjorie Churchill of San Antonio. The three-day conferencefocused on computer forensics, insurance fraud detection, telephone interview techniques, Internet sleuthing, safetyissues when dealing with the public, and cooperation and assistance from other federal governmental agencies. Thedigital conference materials were provided to all CDC investigators and lawyers, and individual training on the varioustopics was provided. Teinert and Churchill are both former members of the OBI Board of Directors.CDC is in the process of obtaining a new case management system that will allow for better tracking of case data, moredetailed statistical reporting, and the ability to capture critical information that is not available with the current system.After an extensive RFP review, New Dawn Technologies was selected as the vendor to develop and implement the newsystem. The contract was finalized in July 2011 and meetings to undertake the project are underway. As the projectmoves forward, CDC continues to work toward ways of improving access and understanding of the grievance process.An exciting feature of the new system will be the capability to allow the public to submit their grievances online.CDC obtained sanctions in 371 cases, resolving 584 complaints in the 2010–11 Bar year. Forty-six of these cases wereresolved through the Grievance Referral Program. CDC pursued 20 compulsory discipline cases before the Board of11