Lawyers are human, and like everyone else, they sometimes make mistakes when representing clients. In some cases, the mistakes are small and easily fixable—for example, not filing enough copies of a document with the court or needing to reschedule a meeting. Other times, the mistakes are serious—such as missing the deadline to file a lawsuit, revealing confidential discussions with a client, or mishandling client funds. In these situations, the lawyer can face discipline for violating legal ethics, including losing the right to practice law.
Disciplinable Offenses
Lawyers are given a lot of responsibility and often deal with serious matters, from criminal charges to child custody to tax and other financial matters. When you hire a lawyer, you are trusting him or her to represent your interests in the best manner possible. To protect the public—and the integrity of the legal profession—each state has its own code of ethics that lawyers must follow. These are usually called the “rules of professional conduct.”
The American Bar Association publishes the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which lists standard ethical violations and best practices for lawyers. Some states have adopted the model rules as their own ethical rules, while others use it as a guide and modify or add rules. However, most states cover issues such as communicating with clients, charging fees, handling client funds, and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Common complaints by clients include:
Failing to communicate with the client. Lawyers have a duty to keep their clients reasonably informed about the status of their cases, to respond promptly to requests for information, and to consult with their clients about important decisions in their cases (for example, whether to accept a settlement offer).
Not returning the client's documents. A client’s file is generally considered to be the property of the client. When a client fires a lawyer and asks for the file, the lawyer must promptly return it.In some states, such as California, the lawyer must return the file even if attorneys’ fees haven’t been paid in full.
Lawyer incompetence. Lawyers must have the knowledge and experience to competently handle any case that they take on. They must also be sufficiently prepared to handle matters that come up in your case, from settlement negotiations to trial.
Conflicts of interest. Lawyers owe a duty of loyalty to their clients, which means they must act with the client’s best interests in mind. This includes avoiding situations that would create a conflict of interest—such as representing two clients on opposite sides of the same case or taking on a new client who wants to sue an existing client.
Financial matters. Misplacing or stealing client funds, refusing to hand over money owed to a client, or charging clearly excessive fees are all ethics violations. However, a simple dispute over how much you owe your lawyer in legal fees is generally not an ethics matter. Most of the time, these disputes are resolved through fee arbitration—an informal process where a neutral third party hears from both sides and makes a decision.
State Disciplinary Boards
Each state has a disciplinary board that enforces state ethics rules for lawyers. The board is usually an arm of the state’s supreme court and has authority to interpret ethics rules, investigate potential violations, conduct evidentiary hearings, and administer attorney discipline. Depending on the offense, the agency might:
issue a private reprimand (usually a letter sent to the lawyer)
issue a public reprimand (usually published in the agency’s official reports and a local legal journal or newspaper)
suspend the lawyer (the lawyer cannot practice law for a specific time)
disbar the lawyer (the lawyer loses his or her license to practice law), and/or
order the lawyer to pay restitution—in the form of money—to the client.
Some state disciplinary boards have websites where you can search for a lawyer by name and see if the lawyer has a history of discipline.
Filing a Complaint
In most states, you can file your complaint by mailing in a state-issued complaint form or a letter with the lawyer's name and contact information, your contact information, a description of the problem, and copies of relevant documents. In some states, you may be able to lodge your complaint over the phone or online.
Some states allow anonymous complaints if the problems impact the general public, while others don’t. Either way, it can be difficult for the agency to investigate a complaint without the cooperation of the complaining party. The board needs to gather evidence before disciplining an attorney, and in some cases, the only available evidence is the testimony of the complaining party. Or, the board might need to know the identity of the complaining party in order to investigate at all—for example, if a client alleges that the lawyer stole funds from a client account, the agency would need to know which client account to focus on.
In many cases, complaints come from the lawyer’s own clients. However, other attorneys and even judges sometimes file complaints against attorneys for improper behavior.
Investigation Process
In most cases, a board of lawyers and non-lawyers will review the complaint. If there’s a potential ethical violation, the board will give the lawyer a copy of the complaint and an opportunity to respond.
In some states, the complaining party has a chance to comment on the lawyer's response and request an investigation. If there's no evidence of a violation, the board will dismiss the case and notify you. If the violation is minor, a phone call or letter to the lawyer usually ends the matter. For serious violations, the board will hold an evidentiary hearing.
Malpractice Lawsuits
The purpose of the state disciplinary board is to discipline lawyers, not necessarily to compensate wronged clients for their losses. If you’re looking for compensation, a malpractice lawsuit is generally the way to go. However, legal malpractice lawsuits can be very difficult to win. Among other things, you must show that your lawyer made a significant mistake in your case and that you suffered a monetary loss because of it. In other words, you must show that you would have won your case—or received more in compensation—had it not been for your lawyer’s mistake. For more information on this topic, see our FAQ on legal malpractice.
Questions for Your Attorney
Can an attorney represent both spouses in a divorce action?
Is it an ethical violation if my attorney doesn't tell me about settlement offers in my case?
Can an attorney withhold attorneys’ fees from my settlement even if I contest some charges he billed me for?
Disciplinary Counsel by State
You can find information for your state's disciplinary board below, including its name, address, and a link to its website, where you can find out more about filing a complaint.
Alabama
Louisiana
Ohio
Alaska
Maine
Oklahoma
Arizona
Maryland
Oregon
Arkansas
Massachusetts
Pennsylvania
California
Michigan
Rhode Island
Colorado
Minnesota
South Carolina
Connecticut
Mississippi
South Dakota
Delaware
Missouri
Tennessee
Florida
Montana
Texas
Georgia
Nebraska
Utah
Hawaii
Nevada
Vermont
Idaho
New Hampshire
Virginia
Illinois
New Jersey
Washington
Indiana
New Mexico
West Virginia
Iowa
New York
Wisconsin
Kansas
North Carolina
Wyoming
Kentucky
North Dakota
District of Columbia
Alabama Alabama State Bar (ASB) Office of General Counsel 415 Dexter Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 Phone: (334) 269-1515 https://www.alabar.org/resources/office-of-general-counsel/
Alaska Alaska Bar Association P.O. Box 100279 Anchorage, AK 99510-0279 Phone: (907) 272-7469 https://www.alaskabar.org/servlet/content/complaints_against_a.html
Arizona State Bar of Arizona 4201 N. 24th Street, Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85016 Phone: (602) 252-4804 http://www.azbar.org/lawyerregulation/clientcomplaints/attorneyconsumerassistanceprogram
Arkansas Supreme Court of Arkansas Office of Professional Conduct 2100 Riverfront Drive, Suite 200 Little Rock, AR 72202 Phone: (501) 376-0313 https://courts.arkansas.gov/administration/professional-conduct
California State Bar of California Office of Chief Trial Counsel 845 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90017 Phone: (800) 843-9053 http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation/FilingaComplaint.aspx
Colorado Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel 1300 Broadway, Suite 500 1560 Broadway, Suite 1800 Denver, CO 80203 Phone: (303) 457-5800 http://www.coloradosupremecourt.us/Complaints/Complaints_Disc.asp
Connecticut Statewide Grievance Committee 287 Main Street, Second Floor, Suite 2 East Hartford, CT 06118-1885 Phone: (860) 568-5157 https://www.jud.ct.gov/sgc/for_public.htm
Delaware Delaware office of Disciplinary Counsel The Renaissance Centre 405 North King Street, Suite 420 Wilmington, DE 19801 Phone: (302) 651-3931 http://courts.delaware.gov/odc/lawyer.aspx
Florida The Florida Bar Attorney Consumer Assistance Program 651 E. Jefferson Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300 Phone: (866) 352-0707 http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/0A92A6DC28E76AE58525700A005D0D53/37E34BBB81F1EE4E85256C0D00703FF4
Hawaii Office of Disciplinary Counsel 201 Merchant Street, Suite 1600 Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone: (808) 521-4591 http://www.odchawaii.com/HOW_TO_FILE_A_COMPLAINT.html
Idaho Idaho State Bar Office of Bar Counsel P.O. Box 895 Boise, Idaho 83701 Phone: (208) 334-4500 https://isb.idaho.gov/bar_counsel/complaints.html
Illinois Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (Chicago & Northern Illinois) 130 East Randolph Drive, Suite 1500 Chicago, IL 60601-6219 Phone: (312) 565-2600 (Central & Southern Illinois) 3161 W. White Oaks Dr., Ste. 301 Springfield, IL 62704 Phone: (217) 546-3523 https://www.iardc.org/howtorequest.html
Indiana Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission 30 South Meridian Street, Suite 850 Indianapolis, IN 46204-3520 Phone: (317) 232-1807 http://www.in.gov/judiciary/discipline/2373.htm
Iowa Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board Iowa Judicial Branch Building 1111 East Court Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50319 Phone: (515) 725-8017 http://www.iowacourts.gov/For_Attorneys/Attorney_Standards__Discipline/Disciplinary_Procedures/
Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator 701 Jackson Street, 1st Floor Topeka, Kansas 66603-3729 Phone: (785) 296-2486 http://www.kscourts.org/rules-procedures-forms/attorney-discipline/complaints.asp
Kentucky Kentucky Bar Association Office of Bar Counsel 514 West Main Street Frankfort, KY 40601-1812 Phone: (502) 564-3795 https://www.kybar.org/page/attdis
Louisiana Louisiana State Bar Association Office of the Disciplinary Counsel 4000 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd., Suite 607 Baton Rouge, LA 70816-4388 Phone: (504) 293-3900 https://www.lsba.org/Public/complaints.aspx
Maine Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar 97 Winthrop Street P. O. Box 527 Augusta, ME 04332-0527 Phone: (207) 623-1121 http://mebaroverseers.org/complaint/index.html
Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland Office of Bar Counsel 200 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone: (410) 514-7051 http://www.courts.state.md.us/attygrievance/complaint.html
Massachusetts Office of the Bar Counsel 99 High Street Boston, MA 02110 Phone: (617) 728-8750 http://www.mass.gov/obcbbo/complaint.htm
Michigan Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission 535 Griswold, Suite 1700 Detroit, MI 48226 Phone: (313) 961-6585 http://www.agcmi.org/investigation/how_to_file_a_request_for_investigation.php#.WKXglW8rKpp
Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility 1500 Landmark Towers 345 St. Peter Street St. Paul, MN 55102-1218 Phone: (651) 296-3952 http://lprb.mncourts.gov/complaints/Pages/default.aspx
Mississippi Mississippi State Bar 643 North State Street P.O. Box 2168 Jackson, MS 39225-2168 Phone: (601) 948-2344 https://www.msbar.org/ethics-discipline/consumer-assistance-program/frequently-asked-questions.aspx
Missouri Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel 3327 America Avenue Jefferson City, MO 65109-1079 Phone: (573) 635-7400 http://www.mochiefcounsel.org/
Montana State Bar of Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel P.O. Box 1099 Helena, MT 59624-1099 Phone: (406) 442-1648 http://www.montanaodc.org/
Nebraska Nebraska Judicial Branch Counsel for Discipline 3808 Normal Blvd. Lincoln, NE 68506 Phone: (402) 471-1040 https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/4571/how-file-grievance-against-attorney
Nevada State Bar of Nevada Office of Bar Counsel 3100 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 100 Las Vegas, NV 89102 Phone: (702) 382-2200 https://www.nvbar.org/member-services-3895/ethics-discipline/complaint/
New Hampshire Supreme Court Attorney Discipline Office 4 Chenell Drive, Suite 102 Concord, NH 03301 Phone: (603) 224-5828 https://www.nhbar.org/for-the-public/dispute.asp
New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics P.O. Box 963 840 Bear Tavern Road Trenton, NJ 08625 Phone: (609) 530-4008 http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/oae/index.html
New Mexico New Mexico Disciplinary Board 20 First Plaza NW, Suite 710 Albuquerque, NM 87102 Phone: (505) 842-5781 https://www.nmdisboard.org/
New York (Manhattan/Bronx) Departmental Disciplinary Committee Supreme Court, Appellate Division First Judicial Department 61 Broadway, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10006 Phone: (212) 401-0800 (Brooklyn/Queens/Staten Island) Grievance Committee for the 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts Renaissance Plaza 335 Adams Street, Suite 2400 Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (718) 923-6300 http://www.nycbar.org/for-the-public/about-lawyers-and-judges/complaints-about-lawyers-and-judges-how
North Carolina Grievance Committee North Carolina State Bar P.O. Box 25908 Raleigh, NC 27611 Phone: (919) 828‐4620 http://www.ncbar.gov/public/filing.asp
North Dakota Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of North Dakota 600 East Boulevard Avenue, Dept. 180 Bismarck, ND 58505-0530 Phone: (701) 328-2221 https://www.ndcourts.gov/court/Committees/disc_brd/information.htm
Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel Supreme Court of Ohio 250 Civic Center Drive, Ste. 325 Columbus, OH 43215-7411 Phone: (614) 461-0256 http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/DisciplinarySys/odc/complaint.asp
Oklahoma Office of the General Counsel Oklahoma Bar Association P.O. Box 53036 Oklahoma City, OK 73152 Phone: (405) 416-7007 http://www.okbar.org/public/Complaint.aspx
Oregon Client Assistance Office Oregon State Bar 16037 SW Upper Boones Ferry Road P.O. Box 231935 Tigard, Oregon 97281-1935 http://www.osbar.org/secured/cao_attorneycomplaints.asp
Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 1601 Market Street Suite 3320 Philadelphia, PA 19103-2337 Phone: 215-560-6296 (For complaints outside of Philadelphia, see the Disciplinary Board’s list of district offices.) http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/consumers/complaint-forms/
Rhode Island Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island Fogarty Judicial Annex 24 Weybosset Street, 2nd Floor Providence, RI 02903 Phone: (401) 222-3270 https://www.courts.ri.gov/PublicResources/disciplinaryboard/Pages/default.aspx
South Carolina South Carolina Commission on Lawyer Conduct 1220 Senate Street, Suite 305 Columbia, South Carolina 29201 Phone: (803) 734-2037 http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/discCounsel/howToFile.cfm
South Dakota Disciplinary Board State Bar of South Dakota 222 E. Capitol Pierre, SD 57501 Phone: (605) 224-7554 http://www.statebarofsouthdakota.com/p/cm/ld/fid=45
Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility 10 Cadillac Drive, Suite 220 Brentwood, TN 37027 Phone: (615) 361-7500 http://www.tbpr.org/for-the-public/file-complaint
Texas State Bar of Texas Chief Disciplinary Counsel's Office P.O. Box 13287 Austin, TX 78711 Phone: (800) 932-1900 https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=File_a_Grievance&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=29656
Utah Utah State Bar Office of Professional Conduct 645 South 200 East Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Phone: (801) 531-9110 http://www.utahbar.org/cap-request-form/
Vermont Michael Kennedy Vermont Professional Conduct Board Office of Bar Counsel Professional Responsibility Program Costello Courthouse 32 Cherry Street, Suite 213 Burlington, VT 05401 Phone: (802) 859-3000 https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/LC/attydiscipline.aspx
Virginia Virginia State Bar Intake Office 1111 East Main Street, Suite 700 Richmond, Virginia 23219-3565 Phone: (804) 775-0570 https://www.vsb.org/site/regulation/inquiry
Washington Office of Disciplinary Counsel Washington State Bar Association 1325 Fourth Ave, Suite 600 Seattle, WA 98101-2539 Phone: (206) 727-8207 http://www.wsba.org/Licensing-and-Lawyer-Conduct/Discipline/File-a-Complaint-Against-a-Lawyer
West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board City Center East, Suite 1200 4700 MacCorkle Avenue SE Charleston, WV 25304 Phone: (304) 558-7999 http://www.wvbar.org/public-information/lawyer-disciplinary-board-faq/
Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation 110 East Main Street, Suite 315 Madison, WI 53703-3383 Phone: (608) 267-7274 https://www.wicourts.gov/services/public/lawyerreg/file.htm
Wyoming Office of Bar Counsel Wyoming State Bar P.O. Box 109 500 Randall Ave Cheyenne, WY 82003-0109 Phone: (307) 432-2104 https://www.wyomingbar.org/for-the-public/attorney-compliants/complain-about-a-lawyers-conduct/
District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel The Board on Professional Responsibility 515 5th Street, NW Building A, Room 117 Washington, D.C. 20001 Phone: (202) 638-1501 https://www.dcbar.org/attorney-discipline/for-the-public/file-an-attorney-complaint.cfm
