Changes to the disciplinary procedure rules and regulations of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline will take effect Jan. 1, 2015 after their adoption by the Ohio Supreme Court.

A year-long review of the rules and regulations resulted in the proposed changes, which were published for public comment in the spring. The board and Supreme Court considered 14 written comments received during the public comment period.

In addition to clarifying and modernizing case-related procedures, several significant changes to Gov. Bar R. V of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio include:

• Updating the terminology relative to mental illness, mental disorders, and substance use disorders to reflect current, accepted medical standards;
• Allowing for the imposition of an interim impairment suspension where a lawyer or judge is suffering from a medically recognized disorder that substantially impairs that individual’s performance of professional duties;
• Adopting a single standard of “confidential” as that term applies to the investigation of grievances and applying to disciplinary case documents the standards of public access that are applicable to trial and appellate courts;
• Expanding the ability of Disciplinary Counsel or a certified grievance committee to conduct an inventory of the files possessed by a deceased, disabled, disappeared, or disciplined lawyer in order to protect the clients of that lawyer, and allowing the costs of such inventory to be recovered from the lawyer or his or her estate;
• Reorganizing Gov. Bar R. V in a more user-friendly format, and moving several substantive provisions from the regulations to the rule;
• Changing the name of the board to the Board of Professional Conduct;
• Altering the title of the board’s leader from secretary to director.

View the complete language of the amendments.

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