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Alabama Rule 8.3  Reporting Professional Misconduct

(a) A lawyer possessing unprivileged knowledge of a violation of Rule 8.4 shall report such knowledge to a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon such violation.

(b) A lawyer possessing unprivileged knowledge or evidence concerning another lawyer or a judge shall reveal fully such knowledge or evidence upon proper request.

(c) A lawyer who is on the Committee on Impaired Lawyers or on the ALA-Pals Committee or who is a member of any committee or sub-committee of the Bar designed to assist lawyers with substance abuse problems shall not be under any obligation to disclose any knowledge or evidence acquired from any other person (including judges and lawyers) during communications made by that other person for the purpose of seeking help of the sort the lawyer's committee was intended to give. Any statement made by either party during such communications shall be privileged, and no claims or disciplinary action based on the lawyer's failure to disclose the knowledge or evidence acquired during such communications may be instituted.

(d) This rule does not require disclosure of information otherwise protected by Rule 1.6.

COMMENT

    Self-regulation of the legal profession requires that members of the profession initiate disciplinary investigation when they know of a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct. An apparently isolated violation may indicate a pattern of misconduct that only a disciplinary investigation can uncover. Reporting a violation is especially important where the victim is unlikely to discover the offense.

    A report about misconduct is not required where it would involve violation of Rule 1.6. However, a lawyer should encourage a client to consent to disclosure where prosecution would not substantially prejudice the client's interests.

    A lawyer is obliged to report every violation of the Rules. The failure to report a violation would itself be a professional offense. A report should be made to the Alabama State Bar. The duty to report professional misconduct does not apply to a lawyer retained to represent a lawyer whose professional conduct is in question. Such a situation is governed by the Rules applicable to the client-lawyer relationship.

COMMENT TO RULE 8.3(C), ADOPTED EFFECTIVE APRIL 7, 1992

    In order to encourage a lawyer or judge who has or believes he or she may have a substance abuse problem to seek help with the problem, that person can be assured that disclosure to any lawyer who is on the Committee on Impaired Lawyers or on the ALA-Pals Committee or who is a member of any committee or sub-committee of the Bar designed to assist lawyers with substance abuse problems, will be treated with confidentiality as though a client-lawyer relationship exists.

COMPARISON WITH FORMER ALABAMA CODE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

    Paragraph (a) carries forward the provisions of DR 1-1-3(A).

    Regarding paragraph (b), DR 1-1-3(B) provided that "[a] lawyer possessing unprivileged knowledge or evidence concerning another lawyer or a judge shall reveal fully such knowledge or evidence upon proper request of a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon the conduct of lawyers or judges."

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