Legal Ethics

California's State Bar Is Trying To Save Face By Mandating Attorneys Snitch On Each Other

Tom Girardi had to ruin it for everybody.

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Dictionary Series – EthicsBar associations have one main job. Collecting dues from attorneys. They also do other things! They act as one of the hall monitors of the profession — they are one of the powers that police attorneys gone awry. And like most policing functions, it makes their jobs a lot easier when they have informants (or potential informants) around every corner. Which is why California’s State Bar wants to change some ethics rules.

Lawyers in California may soon be required to report professional misconduct by their peers and colleagues—as do attorneys in every other state. The State Bar of California’s board of trustees on Thursday voted for a new ethics rule mandating that lawyers report fraud, misappropriation of funds and other criminal acts or conduct that reflect adversely on lawyers’ “honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness,” by fellow attorneys.

The board recommended the new so-called “snitch rule” to the California Supreme Court, which has the final say on adoption.

As cool as it would be for the court to solemnly respond “nnitches get stitches” and never address the matter again, there would have to be a hell of an argument for them to not approve an accountability measure that every other state has in place. This reads more like an incorporation of a standard that everyone else has had in place rather than an opportunity for the state’s highest court to draw a line in the sand.

In the interim before the court’s decision, people have voiced their opinions. Surprise, surprise, several lawyers — the people who would presumably benefit from the rule not being implemented — have submitted arguments against the rule’s adoption, while non-lawyers — the people who could presumably be the lawyers’ clients — are in favor.

California has more lawyers than any other state, and nearly 200 submitted comments opposing the rule. Some argue that the rule would overwhelm the state bar’s disciplinary system with complaints, and that it would inhibit the lawyer and client relationship. Comments submitted from non-attorneys were overwhelmingly in favor of the change and argued that the rule would disincentivize engaging in misconduct and that fellow lawyers are in a better position to recognize potential misconduct…Potential discipline for violating the rule range from private reproval up to a three-year suspension.

“Why now?” you might be asking. Fair question — it’s because some dude finessed his clients for over 20 years :

[T]he Tom Girardi scandal. Girardi, the founder of now-defunct law firm Girardi Keese, was the subject of 205 attorney ethics complaints beginning in 1982 with more than half accusing him of misusing client funds, according to a state bar investigation.

Girardi remained licensed to practice until last June and was later charged by federal prosecutors with taking more than $18 million in funds belonging to his firm’s clients.

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You’d think that a guy with that many complaints would have a hard time finessing his clients right? Well, no — he actually used his good standing with the State Bar as a means to access his client’s pockets:

Yet through it all, Girardi’s record with the State Bar of California, the government agency that regulates attorneys, remained pristine. The bar took no action to warn the public despite receiving what The Times has learned were multiple complaints. That spotless license allowed him to continue marketing himself as one of the nation’s most renowned civil lawyers, and to sign up thousands of new clients, some of whom would later say he absconded with millions of dollars of their settlement money.

You know what? That’ll do it, to be honest. If implementing snitch rules means high-end lawyers can’t amass riches exploiting their clients with lies, that’s better for the industry. They need to make money how their lawyer forefathers before them did — exploiting their clients by an honest billable hour.

Under Ethics Pressure, California State Bar Advances Lawyer ‘Snitch’ Rule [Reuters]

Earlier: Pointing The Finger At The California Bar After Major Legal Scandal

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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