SB1039

THE CONTEXT: The Supreme Court of Arizona is responsible for and establishes rules regarding the regulation of the practice of law in Arizona. This includes establishing the State Bar of Arizona, regulating its members and, if needed, outlines a process for the State Bar to discipline an attorney for unprofessional conduct or for violating court rules ( Supreme Court of Arizona ).

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would includes loss of earnings in the damages that must be paid to an attorney by the State Bar of Arizona if he prevails in an attorney discipline matter and allows him to file a claim against the State Bar if he suffers damage to his reputation, specifies that loss of earnings is calculated during the time-period that covers all stages of the investigation, discipline process, court litigation and appeals process, and allow the prevailing attorney to file a claim against the State Bar if he suffered damage to his reputation.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to make the government process for attorney discipline investigations more definite and accountable. It would includes loss of earnings in the damages that must be paid to an attorney by the State Bar of Arizona if he prevails in an attorney discipline matter and allows him to file a claim against the State Bar if he suffers damage to his reputation, and would also specifies that loss of earnings is calculated during the time-period that covers all stages of the investigation, discipline process, court litigation and appeals process, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.