We have a track record for championing fellow attorneys who have diligently worked on a matter with a client only to find themselves on the receiving end of a professional ethics misconduct allegation.
Without delay, you must timely and fully respond to the complaint as provided by the Investigator from the State Bar. Don’t try this on your own. Don’t think you can pick up the phone or write a simple note and have the matter disposed of. The Investigator is not going to quietly withdraw because you told him that the matter alleged against you is frivolous or unwarranted. As with any case, defending against a grievance requires a skilled third party to represent your best interest.
We bring valuable knowledge of the substantive rules of ethical conduct, the procedural process and the personal rapport with the individuals working for the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, i.e. the Investigator and the Attorney assigned to your case. We work within the system, not for the system and not against the system. We operate best on this premise. It’s a quality and method that translates to the most favorable solution.
Oftentimes, we work in synergy with your malpractice defense counsel and/or your criminal defense counsel. We don’t want you to do something or commit to a resolution that conflicts with related issues, civil or criminal. We view this strategy as the “joint defense method.”
You can count on us to treat you with dignity, fairness, honesty, and forthrightness, all the time, even when you feel the need to vent or clear the air. You will know what is going on with your complaint at all times. You will not lose control or give-up control to us because we want you to work with us, hand-in-hand, to get through the process. We fully intend to keep you “in the loop.”
We will develop and flesh-out the unique details of the complaint, your specific involvement, or lack thereof, in the matters surrounding the complaint, and, after we understand the nature of your practice, its operations, features and controls, we will coordinate a response to the complaint, together. However, we understand that for some attorneys, the mere thought of dealing with the details of a grievance can be so unnerving that they cannot work with us on defending against the grievance and then simultaneously deal with the day-to-day matters of their practice. In those instances, we may have to take charge and manage the matter with other resources available.
Grievance defense is a process. Work through it with us.
