PROCEDURES OF THE ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT

REGULATING PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

OF

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

 

SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. As used in these Procedures, unless the context otherwise requires:

As used in these Procedures, unless the context otherwise requires:  
    A.  "CLERK" means the Clerk of the Arkansas Supreme Court.  
    B.  "COMMITTEE" means the Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct.  
    C.  "COMPLAINANT" means the person(s) initiating a complaint, or the Committee when acting at its own instance or on behalf of another in initiating a complaint.  
    D.  "COMPLAINT" means an inquiry, allegation, or information of whatever nature and in whatever form received by or coming to the attention of the Office of Professional Conduct or the Committee and concerning the conduct of a person subject to the jurisdiction of the Committee.  
    E.  "FORMAL COMPLAINT" means a complaint directed to an attorney by the Office of Professional Conduct setting forth the alleged violation(s) of the Model Rules and informing the attorney of the right to file a written response.  
    F.  "LESSER MISCONDUCT" is defined in Section 17(C).  
    G.  "MODEL RULES" means the Model Rules of Professional Conduct of the American Bar Association, as amended, and any statutory provisions or rules adopted by the Arkansas Supreme Court regulating the professional conduct of attorneys at law.  
    H.  "OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT" means the staff office managed and supervised by the Executive Director, which is responsible for receiving and investigating all complaints concerning members of the Arkansas Bar, presenting cases before the Committee panels, and litigating cases from the Committee before any court of this state.  
    I.  "RESPONDENT" or "RESPONDENT ATTORNEY" means an attorney against whom a formal complaint has been initiated whether or not the attorney has failed to file a written response.  
    J.  "SERIOUS CRIME" means any felony or any lesser crime that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, or any crime a necessary element of which, as determined by the statutory or common law definition of the crime, involves interference with the administration of justice, false swearing, misrepresentation, fraud, deceit, bribery, extortion, misappropriation, theft or an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation of another to commit a "serious crime."  
    K.  "SERIOUS MISCONDUCT" is defined in Section 17(B).  
    L.  "SUBSTANTIAL" when used for the purposes of these procedures in reference to degree or extent, means beyond mere suspicion or conjecture and of sufficient force and character to compel a conclusion one way or another with reasonable and material certainty and precision.  
    M.  "UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTANCES" means circumstances not attributable to negligence, carelessness, fault, or the lack of diligence on the part of the respondent attorney.