The Minnesota Lawyer - April 3, 2006
Minnesota's attorney discipline system gets a C-minus, according to a discipline "report card" issued by HALT, an Organization of Americans for Legal Reform that represents the interests of consumers of legal services.
In a press release issued last week, HALT criticized Minnesota for not releasing more information about its handling of complaints about lawyers. In the "promptness" category, Minnesota received an "incomplete" because it allegedly refused to provide the American Bar Association with data related to its timeliness in processing complaints. HALT also criticized Minnesota for its "reluctance to discipline lawyers," alleging that only 2 percent of investigated cases lead to public discipline.
On the up side, Minnesota was praised for using the "preponderance of the evidence" standard for proving misconduct, rather than the more difficult-to-prove "clear and convincing" standard used by most other states. In addition, HALT said Minnesota's Web site is a model for other states, as it is the only one in the nation that allows consumers to fill out and submit a complaint form online.
Bar Buzz would like to point out that members of the public can now look up records of public discipline of Minnesota lawyers on the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility's Web site. (See "Ethics" on this page of Minnesota Lawyer.)
Minnesota can also take some solace in the fact that more than half of the states received grades below a C and no state earned an A. Utah flunked.
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