Thinking Ethics: the Attorney Diversion Program

• Jurisdiction: Kansas,United States
• Citation: Vol. 81 No. 5 Pg. 09
• Pages: 09
• Publication year: 2012

Thinking Ethics: The Attorney Diversion Program No. 81 J. Kan. Bar Assn 5, 09 (2012) Kansas Bar Journal May, 2012

The Attorney Diversion Program

By Stanton A. Hazlett, Kansas Disciplinary Administrator, shazlett@kscourts.org

The attorney diversion program went into effect on September 18, 2001, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 203(d). The program was tailored after a similar program in Arizona, which was the first state to adopt such a program. Kansas was one of the first 10 states to institute a diversion program. The purpose of the program is to protect the public by improving professional competency of Kansas lawyers by providing educational, remedial, and rehabilitative programs. Generally, the program is available only to lawyers who have had no prior discipline, and lawyers are not eligible if the conduct involved self-dealing, dishonesty, or breach of fiduciary duty. It is described as an alternative to traditional disciplinary procedures.

A respondent is notified of the attorney diversion program at the time of the docketing of a complaint. The respondent must request a referral to the diversion program prior to the disciplinary administrator's report to the review committee. The review committee consists of three...