Disciplinary Problems in Legal Practice: Impairment Issues & ARDC
Explore the prevalent issues leading to disciplinary problems in the legal profession, including statistics on investigations and sanctioned lawyers, impacts of substance abuse/mental health issues, identified impairments by practice setting, common nature of complaints, and classification of charges docketed. Learn about the most common legal malpractice claims and ways to avoid disciplinary problems effectively.
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Impairment Issues & The ARDC: Avoiding Disciplinary Problems ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Stephanie L. Stewart T - 312.763.6225 (Direct) Email: sstewart@meyerlex.com
A Look at Statistics: Where do the Problems Arise? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Disciplinary Complaints ARDC Annual Report 2015 There were 5,648 investigations and 125 lawyers were sanctioned.
Impact of Substance Abuse/Mental Health Issues ___________________________________________________________________ 27% of all sanctioned lawyers had one or more identified substance abuse or mental impairment issue
Impairments Identified for Lawyers Disciplined in 2015, by Practice Setting
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nature of the Complaint 54% of all grievances involve issues of poor attorney-client relations, neglect of a client matter (39%), or failure to communicate with a client (15%).
Classification of Charges Docketed in 2015 by Violation Alleged
The Most Common Legal Malpractice Claims by Type of Alleged Error Fail to Know/Apply Law 11.3% 1. Planning Error 8.9% 2. The U.S. figures come from the 2004- 2007 and 2000-2003 Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims studies prepared by the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability. These studies include data from many insurers across many states and represent 42,076 claims. Inad Disc/Investigation 8.8% 3. Fail to File Documents 8.6% 4. Fail to Calendar 6.7% 5. Fail to Know Deadline 6.6% 6. Procrastination 5.9% 7. Fail to Obtain Client Consent 5.4% 8. Conflict of Interest 5.3% 9. 10. Fraud 5.0% 11. Fail to Follow Instructions 4.4% 12. Fail to React to Calendar 3.8%
The Proactive Law Firm: Checks & Balances __________________________________ 1. Lawyers do not make their own calendar entries 2. Lawyers do not open their own mail 3. Weekly meetings that are prospective and retrospective 4. Administrative staff required to report case/client issues 5. Communication, communication, communication!
