Brooklyn Bar Association examines new uniform disciplinary rules at CLE
The Brooklyn Bar Association hosted Hon. Barry Kamins and three attorneys in Brooklyn Heights on Thursday for a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar on the new Uniform Rules of the Appellate Division on Attorney Discipline that will go into effect later this year.
The four departments of the New York state court system currently have eight different committees for governing attorney conduct. This new system is being adopted to harmonize the various disciplinary procedures around the state to provide a uniform approach.
“Unlike most states, New York has a decentralized system for handling attorney grievances,” Kamins said. “[In New York] each grievance committee has its own set of rules… and there has not been, believe it or not, a single definition of what constitutes professional misconduct.”