The naughty list

Consuming Interests, a blog by the Baltimore Sun, published the list of Maryland attorneys disciplined by the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. For a variety of reasons, I am drawn to the list. As an attorney focusing on litigation, I want to know the reasons why some attorneys are disciplined to ensure that I do not fall within the same traps. As an attorney in Maryland, I wanted to see if there are any names on the list that I am familiar with. And, in all honesty, I am always happy when the list comes out and my name is not on it. From a quick count, give or take, it appears 78 attorneys were disciplined, ranging from a reprimand to disbarment. Compare this to the more than 28,000 attorneys admitted to practice in Maryland. Looking at the list, however, several themes are readily apparent regarding the factors considered by the Attorney Grievance Commission.

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One comment

Bruce Godfrey
July 23, 2010 at 10:09 am

Well said. I read the same lists as well as disciplinary cases as they come out on the Court of Appeals website. Probably a good rule of thumb is to model your conduct on the logical opposite of the conduct of an attorney who got disbarred.

From my ’94 class at University of Maryland, at least three out of about 160 attorneys have been disbarred or indefinitely suspended in MD. Cautionary tales, each.