- - Section 1. Scope
- - Section 2. Definitions
- - Section 3. Committee on Professional Conduct
- - Section 4. Committee Panels
- - Section 5. Office of Professional Conduct
- - Section 6. Confidentiality, Records
- - Section 7. Procedure
- - Section 8. Discovery
- - Section 9. Service of Complaint, Response, Failure to Respond, Reconsideration
- - Section 10. Vote by Ballot
- - Section 11. Public Hearing
- - Section 12. Appeal
- - Section 13. Disbarment Proceedings
- - Section 14. Reciprocal Disbarment or Suspension
- - Section 15. Criminal Activity
- - Section 16. Interim Suspension Procedure
- - Section 17. Sanctions
- - Section 18. Fines, Costs and Restitution
- - Section 19. Factors to be Considered in Imposing Sanction
- - Section 20. Surrender of License, Discipline by Consent
- - Section 21. Duties of Sanctioned Attorney
- - Section 22. Restrictions on Former Attorneys
- - Section 23. Reinstatement
- - Section 24. Readmission to the Bar
- - Section 25. Inactive Status
- - Section 26. Expungement of Dismissals
- - Section 27. Contempt
- - SECTION 28. Attorney trust account and automatic "overdraft" notification procedure
- - See Current/Former Procedures Parallel-References Table
PROCEDURES OF THE ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
REGULATING PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
OF
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SECTION 10. VOTE BY BALLOT.
A. At such time as the Executive Director has received from the attorney a written response or the attorney has failed to respond within the period provided in Section (9)(B), the Executive Director shall cause to be prepared seven copies of the complainant's affidavit, the response, rebuttal, exhibits, and a separate sealed envelope containing information concerning any prior discipline of the respondent attorney and shall send a copy thereof to each member of the seven-member panel to which the matter has been assigned. The members of the panel and its chair shall be selected by the Chairperson of the Committee. The Executive Director shall not take part in the deliberations of the panel. Each member shall vote by written ballot.
B. Each ballot shall contain appropriate spaces for:
(1) The name and signature of the panel member;
(2) The date;
(3) The member's vote on the action to be taken on the formal complaint; and,
(4) A place for the members to state which Section(s) of Model Rules, if any, are found to be violated.
C. If a majority of the panel returns written ballots expressing a desire to cause a respondent attorney, complainant, or other person to appear for the purposes of eliciting testimony, production of records and documents, provision of additional information or evidence, or for any other relevant purposes involved with a matter pending before the panel, a hearing will be scheduled and summonses or subpoenas may issue as required. Such evidentiary hearing shall not be public and no adjudicative decision will be pronounced or rendered at that time. The Committee, upon written ballot or voice vote, subsequently shall notify the respondent attorney of the decision and notify the complainant if no disciplinary action was warranted. Otherwise, the provisions of Section 10(D)(3) shall apply. Any recorded testimony, records, documents, exhibits or other evidence adduced at an evidentiary hearing may be received and made part of the record at a subsequent public hearing.
D. Results of Ballot Vote.
(1) In the event a majority of the panel votes to take no disciplinary action against a respondent attorney, the panel shall so advise the Office of Professional Conduct, which shall notify the complainant and the respondent attorney. The Office of Professional Conduct shall file a monthly report of such cases, by number only, as a public record in the office of the Clerk.
(2) If the vote is to warn, an appropriate letter shall be sent to the respondent and the complainant. The Office of Professional Conduct shall file a monthly report of such cases, by number only, as a public record in the office of the Clerk.
(3) If a majority of the panel returns written ballots to caution, reprimand, or suspend the attorney, the attorney shall be notified of the findings and decision of the panel, and be advised that he or she has a right, upon written request filed with the Office of Professional Conduct within twenty (20) days of service as defined by Section 9(A)(2), to a hearing before another seven-member panel of the Committee, none of which were members of the original panel, as provided in Section 11. The attorney shall also be advised that in the absence of a request for a hearing, such findings and order of the Committee will be entered in the files of the Committee and will be filed as a public record in the office of the Clerk.
(4) If a majority of the panel votes by paper ballot to initiate disbarment proceedings, the Committee shall proceed as set out in Section 13 and there shall be no public hearing before the Committee pursuant to Section 11. If the panel finds that a lawyer has committed acts against a client which constitute theft of property under Ark. Code Ann. 5-36-103 (or its replacement), regardless of whether the attorney has been convicted, disbarment proceedings must be instituted.
(5) If any findings of fact, conclusions of law, or other recommendations are necessary at the conclusion of the ballot process, they shall be prepared by the Office of Professional Conduct with the advice and consent of the panel.
(6) The panel may refer matters involving lesser misconduct to alternatives-to-discipline programs as explained in Section 5(C)(2).