David Cameron Carr has been covering the developments at KafkaEsq. The Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar of California had sought two changes. First, it would place a dramatic "consumer warning" on the state bar website page for every lawyer once disciplinary charges were filed. Up to now, the warning have been used only when the lawyer was accused of misappropriating $25,000 or more or engaging in improper work on loan modifications. The Association of Discipline Defense Counsel (ADDC), of which I am a member, successfully urged the Board of Governors to send the proposal out for public comment. The OCTC didn't want that, but now it will happen.
Here is the consumer warning itself:
CONSUMER ALERTThe State Bar of California has filed disciplinary charges against this attorney alleging that the attorney engaged in a major misappropriation of client funds. You may read the Notice of Disciplinary Charges filed by the State Bar against the attorney, and any reply filed by the attorney. You may also learn more about the general nature of misappropriation of client funds. DISCLAIMER: Any Notice of Disciplinary Charges filed by the State Bar contains only allegations of professional misconduct. The attorney is presumed to be innocent of any misconduct warranting discipline until the charges have been proven.
The second proposal was to permit the OCTC to use more streamlined notice pleading. ADDC opposed that and at the hearing on the proposal the OCTC offered exemplars of its proposed form of pleading that the ADDC felt had more detail than the barbones pleading that the OCTC had originally proposed using.