THE RECORD - New York City Bar Association

P R O P O S E D F E D E R A L R U L E S O F A T T O R N E Y C O N D U C T
The root of the problem the Standing Committee is seeking to solve,
however, is not that the district courts have been inconsistent in their
approach to the regulation of attorney conduct, but that the entire structure
of attorney regulation in the United States is balkanized. True uniformity,
if desired, can only be achieved if attorney admission, regulation
and discipline are controlled or at least coordinated on a nationwide basis.
33 The proposal to adopt a system of federal ethics rules simply does
not address the core problem: while the practice of law is becoming multijurisdictional,
the regulatory structure for the legal profession is not. Thus,
not only is the Standing Committee proposing the wrong solution, it is
addressing the wrong problem.
For the foregoing reasons, we urge the Standing Committee to
abandon its efforts to impose Federal Rules Governing Attorney Conduct
and to recommend adoption of a rule that would require each district
court to apply the ethics rules of the state in which it sits. 34
December 1998
33. Whether the legal profession should be “nationalized” is likewise beyond the scope of this
report.
34. This report was drafted by a working group consisting of members of all four subscribing
committees and ratified by each committee at one of its regular meetings. The working group
consisted of Steven C. Krane (Chair), John Q. Barrett, Catherine M. Foti, Richard W. Mark,
Mary C. Mone, Guy T. Petrillo and James P. Rouhandeh.
T H E R E C O R D
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