Since October 2011, the Committee to Review Maine's Disciplinary Enforcement Rules has worked on a comprehensive rewrite of the Maine Bar Rules. The Committee, appointed by the Board of Overseers of the Bar, has now released its work product, following 18 meetings on the topic.
The proposed revision contains five striking changes, to wit:
1. A Central Intake Office, staffed by an attorney Board Clerk, will initially review all complaints. The Office is granted the authority to dismiss those which fail to allege a rule violation, without Bar Counsel or Grievance Commission review. This should lead to faster resolution of a significant number of complaints, for lack of jurisdiction or merit.
2. Bar Counsel will obtain additional options for use in tailoring remedies to best fit the circumstances of each particular case, including, for example, an Alternatives to Discipline Program (e.g. counseling, CLE courses, office management training, or fee arbitration) in lieu of possible discipline.
3. The Grievance Commission and the Court also gain new disciplinary options in addition to reprimands or admonitions. For example, both entities can impose probation on a respondent attorney, placing certain conditions on the attorney's practice.
4. The proposed rules delineate the roles of the adjudicative office (managed by the Board Clerk) and the prosecutorial office (Bar Counsel). The Board's administrative role, as well as its powers and duties, are also clearly laid out and separated from the prosecutorial and adjudicative functions.
5. A new overdraft notification rule mandates that financial institutions notify the Board when an insufficient check is presented against an IOLTA account. This acts as an early warning system for attorney trust account violations.
The proposed rules are better organized than the existing system. Such a simple thing as assigning separate rule numbers to each topic makes the rules much more accessible.
The proposed revision may be viewed and downloaded from the Board's website. We look forward to adoption of the new rules.
Authored by William C. Saturley
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