The State Bar of Texas is dedicated to improving and advancing the quality of legal services to the public, protecting the public through the discipline system, and fostering integrity and ethical conduct in the legal profession.
The Texas attorney discipline system is governed by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure. The ethics rules define proper conduct for purposes of professional discipline.
The procedural rules provide the mechanism by which grievances are processed, investigated, and prosecuted. Also, the Supreme Court of Texas created an ombudsman to be an independent source of information for the public and a monitor of the attorney discipline system. Learn more about the ombudsman here.
Most of the grievances we receive come from clients who feel their case is being neglected or their calls or emails are not being returned.
When the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel (CDC) receives a Grievance, an initial review is made to determine whether the grievance alleges facts which, if true, would constitute a violation of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
Get contact information for all four regional CDC offices. If you have questions about the grievance process or the status of a grievance, please call the office nearest you.
A person has the right to complain against any attorney who is involved in legal issues concerning that person. They may write a letter to an attorney who is representing them or to an attorney who is working against their case.
To avoid problems with their attorney, clients should: Get a fee agreement in writing and request to be billed promptly. Understand the realistic expectations for the outcome of their case. Give their lawyer all documentation promptly. Get all important understandings in writing and keep a record of phone calls to their lawyer.
However, if the lawyer will not meet the client, they can send a complaint letter explaining the problem and request a response. If they are still not satisfied, they can fire their attorney and hire another one. Simply because a client is not happy with their lawyer’s performance, does not necessarily mean the lawyer deserves discipline.
If any of these are breached, then the lawyer is subject to discipline and can be privately reprimanded or permanently lose his or her license to practice law.
Some examples of serious breaches of ethics for which the attorney can be disciplined are: Not keeping their client fully informed about the developments of their case. Not properly accounting for the client’s money or returning money owed. Not returning the client’s case file if they hire another attorney.
The client may want to make a list of complaints before starting to write to clarify their thoughts. Even if the client uses the lawyer’s first name in regular communication, the complaint letter should be address to the lawyer’s formal name. This maintains the professional tone.
If you don’t have a reasonable complaint, you’ll probably receive a letter or notice stating that the committee is not going to investigate your charge.
If your attorney fails you, it’s natural that you’d want to complain to someone – and you can under some circumstances.
Cite the Rule of Professional Conduct that you believe your lawyer broke. If you have witnesses, name them and give contact information for them. You’ll have to sign the letter and include contact information for yourself as well , since most states will not allow you to make complaints anonymously .
Some states have fee dispute resolution programs. In New York, if your complaint is of this nature, the grievance committee will most likely send your matter to the program to resolve the dispute rather than investigate. You can also file a complaint with the program directly. New Jersey has fee arbitration committees.
New York has grievance committees assigned to each court district, but in California, you would go to the state bar. In New Jersey, the Supreme Court’s Office of Attorney Ethics handles complaints through district ethics committees situated around the state.