Required to Report Misconduct

Grace M. Giesel, 1789

Abstract

Should Kentucky lawyers be required to report the misdeeds of other lawyers? Lawyers in forty-six states and the District of Columbia must report. Most of these jurisdictions have required lawyers to report the misdeeds of other lawyers since at least the 1970s. Until 1990 the ethics rules in effect in Kentucky required Kentucky lawyers to report the misdeeds of other lawyers. In contrast, the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) Board of Governors has recommended to the Kentucky Supreme Court that it adopt an aspirational rule, not a rule requiring lawyers to report.