CHAPTER 7 - 7-3 GRIEVANCE PANELS

• Jurisdiction: United States

7-3 Grievance Panels

7-3:1 Panel Membership and Grievance Counsel

After the conclusion of the screening review, Bar Counsel send the grievance complaints to the grievance panels for investigation and the determination of probable cause.⁴⁸ Grievance panels, also called "local panels," are comprised of two lawyers and a lay person, with one or more alternates.⁴⁹ No attorney panel member may hear or consider a matter involving a lawyer who maintains an office for the practice of law in the same town as the respondent lawyer.⁵⁰ They are assisted by attorneys called grievance counsel or local panel counsel.⁵¹

The copy of the grievance the lawyer receives in the mail from the Grievance Committee will have contact information for grievance counsel. Grievance counsel are very involved in decisions regarding probable cause findings or decisions to dismiss. The members of the panel rely on them to separate the valid complaints from the rest. It is not improper to contact grievance counsel after filing an answer to see if there are any other issues that counsel thinks should be addressed and to make sure that everything has been received in the proper form. Addressing issues with grievance counsel may answer questions the local panels have well enough that no probable cause is found.

7-3:2 Hearings and Action on Complaints

In addition to matters referred from Bar Counsel, grievance panels may conduct investigations on their own motion.⁵² They have the power to issue investigatory subpoenas.⁵³ They may hold hearings,⁵⁴ and may ask Disciplinary Counsel to prosecute the matter at a hearing.⁵⁵

Despite having broad investigatory power,⁵⁶ not unlike those of a grand jury, grievance panels rarely hold hearings. Usually they rely on the complaint and the answer filed by the attorney.⁵⁷ Once an answer to the complaint is filed, a copy is sent to the complainant. This may prompt a new barrage of filings. The grievance panels will allow responsive replies to be filed, but are very sensitive to their time limitations.

Thus, reply matters should be promptly filed and kept as focused as possible. Excessive "back and forth" may tax the patience of the panels or their counsel, leading them to conclude that there is enough of a factual dispute to warrant a hearing. Because grievance panels rarely conduct hearings, the usual response in complicated cases is that they find probable cause, with commentary that a full hearing will be needed to settle factual the issues.

7-3:3 Probable Cause Findings

Grievance panels determine whether probable cause exists that an attorney is guilty of...