You have just received the "Ten Days" letter from the NJ Lawyers Ethics Committee. Someone has filed a complaint with you, and you are now responding to ethical issues. The person who claims to be an ethics committee investigator has given you a ten-day written response and provided some records and documents. Maybe this customer is a customer or a former customer. Maybe this is an opponent. Hope, this is not a judge. You are instructed to cooperate with the investigation.
At this point, you should check your E&O scope, especially the notification requirements and coverage terms. Provide your E&O carrier with advice on pending investigations upon request. Not only can they advise you if appropriate, but your failure to notify them may result in the confiscation of insurance in a potential medical malpractice lawsuit. With or without insurance, you don't have much time to respond to ethics.
Intuition says you should exercise the right to remain silent; practice tells you to try to stop the investigation. Should you work with your candidate? Suppose you think your file may actually lead to a criminal charge against you? What if the investigator asks you which real answers can accept the crime? Can they let you testify? What can they do if you don't? How about the Fifth Amendment?
You should know some facts. The Attorney Ethics Office [OAE] of the State Supreme Court is responsible for law enforcement in New Jersey. It investigates all dissatisfaction with all lawyers. If OAE decides that your case requires immediate attention, or if you are also a defender in criminal proceedings, then the ethics case may be handled directly by Trenton's OAE. In this case, the investigator who contacts you may be a paid professional. Sometimes, when a lawyer's trust account checks for a rebound, the case is "automatically" initiated. These cases are usually handled by Trenton. It is usually not clear from the first letter or phone.
However, most of the dissatisfaction was investigated by the Regional Ethics Committee [DEC], which is a lawyer volunteer in various parts of the state. After the investigation, DEC will determine if discipline is needed. If so, a formal complaint will be filed. At other times, the complaint was rejected. Sometimes, in smaller cases, you may be offered a transfer, which is a non-disciplined, conditional case solution. In all cases, you are absolutely entitled to a comprehensive evidence hearing on the charges.
It is important that you know that OAE has the right to suspend your license, simply because you refused to respond to this ten-day letter. Normally, if you need it, you will have an additional few days of complaints, but your extra or continued failure to cooperate with the investigation [or even just such a situation] may result in additional measures for you, including where appropriate Case, summary cancellation. Although the Ethics Committee cannot allow you to go to jail, it can do something that criminal courts can't do: it may punish you for "begging for the fifth." Unlike the factual characteristics in criminal cases, the Ethics Committee Hearing Board and other OAEs, and even the Supreme Court, may make a negative inference testimony because of your non-cooperation or your failure to appear in court or to produce evidence or to reject your refusal.
This is because there is no constitution, even legal rights to practise - only a driver's license, not a driver's license. If the trade or profession must be regulated by the state and the practitioner must obtain a license, the state may impose conditions and restrictions on the license. The accused's offenders will not receive a jury, and the standard of evidence is "clear and convincing" rather than the constitution's "no reasonable doubt" standard.
Of course, if your ethical case involves [or may involve] criminal charges against you or your client or someone in your company, please consult a lawyer with appropriate expertise immediately. The problem is complex, the risk is high, and there is no standard method.
New Jersey lawyers' ethics decisions are always given to lawyers who are fully cooperative in investigating them. They usually discriminate against lawyers who do not do so. Although you should always have experienced lawyers whenever you become the focus of ethical complaints, if you want to continue practicing, then ethical cooperation is a smart move.
Orignal From: New Jersey Lawyers Ethics Survey - "Ten Day Letters"
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