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What are the rules of professional conduct?:
View
The Rules of Professional Conduct - (PDF).
How do I complain about a lawyer?
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First, talk to your lawyer
and try to resolve your complaint. You may also want to talk to one
of the other partners in the law firm.
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If your complaint is about
fees, you may want to use the Arbitration of Legal Fee Disputes
process set up by the Connecticut Bar Association. To receive a copy
of the Rules for Arbitration of Legal Fee Dispute and the necessary
forms, please contact:
Connecticut Bar Association
30 Bank Street
P.O. Box 350
New Britain, CT 06050-0350
Telephone:
(860) 223-4400, Fax: (860) 223-4488
http://www.ctbar.org/
- (enter
fee arbitration
in the "Search CBA" box).
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The court's Bar Grievance
Committee has authority to investigate serious complaints against
lawyers about misconduct or unethical behavior and to discipline
lawyers.
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A complaint, or grievance,
is started by completing and signing a complaint form and mailing it
to:
Statewide
Bar Counsel
287 Main Street,
Suite 2, Second Floor
East Hartford, CT 06118-1885.
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Complaint Form JD-GC-6 - (PDF)
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"Attorney Grievance Procedures in Connecticut" pamphlet
- (PDF)
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Complaint forms are also
available at every Superior Court Clerk's Office. There is no charge
for filing a grievance complaint.
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Lawyers are regulated by
the Superior Court. The standards governing the ethical behavior of
lawyers are called The Rules of
Professional Conduct. They are printed in the Connecticut
Practice Book, which is available at any courthouse law library.
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What happens
after a complaint against a lawyer is filed?
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The procedure for
disciplining lawyers is also in the
Practice Book,
beginning with Section 2-29.
In addition, the Statewide Grievance Committee has adopted its own
rules of
procedure to
supplement those found in the practice book.
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The Statewide Bar Counsel
reviews your complaint and either sends it to be investigated by a
grievance panel or sends it to the Statewide Grievance Committee
with a recommendation that it be dismissed for one of the reasons
stated below.
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Some reasons for
dismissing complaints:
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only involves a fee
dispute which is not clearly excessive or improper;
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no claim of misconduct;
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does not contain
specific enough information on which to base an investigation;
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duplicates a complaint
already considered and dismissed; or,
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involves personal
behavior outside the practice of law.
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Every Judicial District
has a grievance panel made up of one lay person and two attorneys
who do not have offices in the Judicial District. The panel decides
whether there is "probable cause" to believe that the lawyer is
guilty of misconduct. The grievance panel may hold a hearing on your
complaint as part of their investigation. A copy of the grievance
panel's probable cause decision will be sent to you within 120 days
of the referral to the panel.
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All determinations of a
grievance panel finding that there exists probable cause of
misconduct are referred to the Statewide Grievance Committee for
further action. The committee conducts a hearing open to the public
on probable cause referrals. If the complaint is filed on or after
January 1, 2004, a disciplinary counsel will present the case to the
Committee at its hearing when probable cause of misconduct is found. If a grievance panel determines that there is no probable cause of
misconduct, it will dismiss the complaint. Such a dismissal is a
final decision, subject to no further review, unless there is an
allegation in the complaint that the attorney committed a crime, in
which case a finding of no probable cause will be reviewed by the
Statewide Grievance Committee. The Statewide
Grievance Committee is a board of 21 members. At least seven of them
are not lawyers. The committee makes the final decision on the
grievance or complaint.
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Where can I get more
information about
complaints about lawyers?
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Review the
publication "Attorney Grievance Procedures
in Connecticut", available at every Superior Court
Clerk's Office.
"Attorney Grievance Procedures in Connecticut" JDP-GC-8
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(PDF - Rev. 11/03)
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Please note that the procedures
governing the attorney grievance process were changed by the Judges
of the Superior Court effective January 1, 2004. Complaints filed
before January 1, 2004 are governed by the procedures that were in
effect prior to that date. Those procedures can be reviewed in the
following version of the
"Attorney Grievance Procedures in
Connecticut" JD-GC-8 -
(PDF - Rev. 12/00).
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If you still have
questions regarding the grievance process, please call or write to:
Statewide
Bar Counsel
287 Main Street,
Suite 2, Second Floor
East Hartford, CT 06118-1885
Telephone: 860-568-5157
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The Bar Counsel
cannot advise you as to whether to file a complaint.
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Can I get a list of recent complaint
decisions?
What is the attorney
registration requirement?
 - 06/08
Practice Book
§2-27(d) and (f) and Rule 12 of the Statewide Grievance Committee Rules of
Procedure require attorneys who are licensed in Connecticut to register with the
Statewide Grievance Committee on an annual basis. Registration is also required
for an attorney to be in good standing, as that term is defined by Practice Book
§2-65. The registration process typically occurs between the end of January and
the beginning of March.
Rule 12 of
the Statewide Grievance Committee Rules of Procedure requires attorneys to
comply with the annual registration requirement by registering electronically
through Judicial Branch E-Services beginning with the 2007 registration process
and thereafter. Attorneys will no longer receive a paper form with which to
register unless they are exempted from mandatory electronic registration.
Attorneys
may request an exclusion from electronic registration for good cause through
form JD-CL-92, which is available from the Statewide Grievance Committee at
(860) 568-5157, or
Atty.Registration@jud.ct.gov; or from the Judicial Branch website at
http://www.jud2.ct.gov/webforms/#GRIEVANCE. The exclusion request form
must be received in a reasonable time prior to the start of the next
registration process. If granted, the exclusion is permanent and does not need
to be renewed.
Attorneys
who are not exempted from mandatory electronic registration will receive a
notice from the Judicial Branch when it is time for the annual registration.
Attorneys
who are not enrolled in Judicial Branch E-Services are encouraged to enroll so
that they may register electronically. The E-Services enrollment form is
available at
https://eservices.jud.ct.gov/enrollform.asp.
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How does an
attorney
or firm file a change of
address?
Firm
Change of Address:
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Individual attorneys in a firm, complete form
JD-GC-10
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Principal of firm, complete
form
JD-GC-10 for both self and firm. And complete form
JD-ES-145.
Individual Attorneys:
Note:
Submission of a change of
address to the Department of Revenue Services (in connection with the
Occupational Tax or otherwise) does not constitute the required
notice to the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
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How does an attorney
retire from the practice of law?
Section 51-81b(g) provides, in part, that
"the attorney shall file written notice of retirement with the clerk of
the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford...". The form
must be filed with the superior court clerk at the following address:
Clerk,
Superior Court
Hartford JD
95 Washington Street
Hartford, CT 06106
Practice Book Section 2-55
provides, "Written notice of retirement from the practice of law,
pursuant to the provisions of General Statutes §51-81b, shall not
constitute removal from the bar or the roll of attorneys, but it shall
be noted on the roll of attorneys kept by the clerk in Hartford county
who shall notify the statewide bar counsel of such retirement. The
notice shall include the attorney's juris number and be filed in
triplicate with such clerk. Upon the filing of such notice, the attorney
shall no longer be eligible to practice law as an attorney admitted in
the state of Connecticut. Retirement may be revoked at any time upon
written notice to the clerk for Hartford County and the statewide bar
counsel. Disciplinary proceedings against an attorney shall not be
stayed or terminated on account of the attorney’s retirement from the
practice of law." A retirement form, viewable here in PDF format,
JD-CL-68,
is available at any judicial district clerk's office or at the office of
the Client Security Fund Committee.
How does an
attorney resign from the practice of law?
For more information about resignation, see
Practice Book Section 2-52.
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How do I find an attorney
juris number?
To find the address or juris number of an
attorney admitted to practice law in Connecticut, go to the
"Attorney/Firm Inquiry" page on our website and enter
the last name of the attorney whose address or juris number you wish to
find.
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What is
a Statewide Grievance Committee Ethics Opinion?
Periodically, the
Statewide Grievance Committee publishes written
ethics opinions on issues of
general importance to the bar. The ethics opinions are published in the
Connecticut Law Journal.
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