Pittsburgh Tribune Review - March 16, 2006
By David Conti
Four years after being slammed by a legal reform group, the state Supreme Court board that investigates allegations of misconduct by lawyers has been named the most improved in the country.
The court's Disciplinary Board was ranked fifth in the nation in a report last week by Washington, D.C.-based Halt, which graded each state's attorney discipline system. In 2002, Halt called the board the worst in the country.
"In general, we were really thrilled with Pennsylvania's progress," Halt associate counsel Suzanne Blonder said Wednesday.
The board's executive director, Joseph Farrell, said he's glad Halt recognized the improvements undertaken by the board.
"We're not doing this to please Halt, but it's good to see this report card after they blasted us so bad," he said.
The board receives almost 5,000 complaints each year about lawyers. After an investigation, the board can conduct hearings and then recommend possible discipline to the state Supreme Court, which can include disbarment.
Halt praised the board for creating an Internet site in 2003 that allows people to learn about filing a complaint or find out if an attorney has been disciplined in the past. The board also decided in October to open its hearings to the public after working for more than three decades in secret.
Farrell said the board has reached out further to people with newsletters, brochures and articles in Spanish-language newspapers.
The board still got low grades from Halt for being too slow in deciding cases and for a low discipline rate. The average time between the filing of a complaint and the announcement of disciplinary action is more than 1 1/2 years.
"A lawyer could be taking on other cases during that time for clients who don't know that lawyer has these complaints," Blonder said.
Ranking ahead of Pennsylvania in Halt's report cards were: Connecticut, Colorado, Arizona and Tennessee.
David Conti can be reached at dconti@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.
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