AL · rules

Ala. R. Disciplinary P. 4

The Disciplinary Board of the Alabama State Bar

activein force · 2023-01-05 – presentact-effective-date

(a) Establishment and Membership of the Disciplinary Board; Terms of

Members.

(1) The Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar shall

appoint five panels of five members each, each panel to be known as "The

Disciplinary Board of the Alabama State Bar" (hereinafter referred to as a

"Disciplinary Board"). The Supreme Court of Alabama shall be notified

immediately of appointments made by the Board of Commissioners of the

Alabama State Bar to the Disciplinary Board and may, within thirty days of

receiving notice, overrule any such appointment. Each panel shall be

composed of three persons who are members in good standing of the

Alabama State Bar, one layperson, and the Disciplinary Hearing Officer

appointed pursuant to Rule 4.2 of these Rules. As used in these Rules, the

term "Disciplinary Board" shall refer to that panel involved in a particular

disciplinary proceeding, and the term "layperson" shall mean an adult

resident citizen of the State of Alabama who is not now, and who never has

been, a lawyer. Those members in good standing of the Alabama State Bar

appointed to the Disciplinary Board shall be appointed for terms of three

years, except when appointed to fill an unexpired term, and they cannot

serve more than two consecutive full terms. Layperson members shall be

appointed for terms of two years and may serve unlimited successive

terms. Any member appointed to a Disciplinary Board shall be required to

attend a three-hour training session conducted by the Office of General

Counsel of the Alabama State Bar. Members who are lawyers will receive

CLE credit for attending the training session.

(2) The Disciplinary Hearing Officer appointed pursuant to Rule

4.2 of these Rules and assigned to hear a particular matter may appoint

members of other Disciplinary Boards or members of the Board of Bar

Commissioners who are not members of the Disciplinary Commission to sit

temporarily on a Disciplinary Board. The Supreme Court of Alabama shall

be notified immediately of appointments made by the Disciplinary Hearing

Officer to a Disciplinary Board and may, within thirty days of receiving

notice, overrule any such appointment. The Disciplinary Hearing Officer

may make such a temporary appointment to ensure that a quorum of the

Disciplinary Board is available to hear or to consider a particular matter, but

the Disciplinary Hearing Officer's authority to appoint temporary members

of the Disciplinary Board is not restricted to appointment of that number of

members as may be necessary to secure a quorum, and the Disciplinary

Hearing Officer may appoint as many temporary members as the

Disciplinary Hearing Officer deems appropriate, up to the number required

to provide a full panel of five members.

(3) Whenever a layperson member of a Disciplinary Board is not

present for the hearing of a particular matter, the Disciplinary Hearing

Officer shall appoint another layperson from the "lay list" provided for

pursuant to subsection (c); that layperson so appointed shall serve as the

Disciplinary Board's layperson member for the hearing of the particular

matter. A Disciplinary Board must include one layperson member for each

proceeding.

(b) Powers of the Disciplinary Board and the Disciplinary Hearing Officer.

(1) Each Disciplinary Board shall exercise the powers conferred

upon it and shall perform the duties imposed upon it by these Rules or by

any other rules of procedure adopted by the Board of Commissioners of

the Alabama State Bar. It shall specifically have the power and duty to

consider and investigate any alleged ground for discipline or any alleged

disability of a lawyer that comes to its attention. It has this power and duty

whether the alleged ground for discipline or the alleged disability comes to

its attention by its own motion or comes to its attention by some other

means or action. It shall have the power to take such action with respect to

an alleged ground for discipline or an alleged disability as shall be

appropriate to effectuate the purposes of these Rules.

(2) As to a proceeding before the Disciplinary Board, the

Disciplinary Hearing Officer assigned to hear the matter shall have those

powers and duties enumerated in Rule 4.2(b)(5) of these Rules.

(3) For purposes of determinations to be made pursuant to the

Supreme Court's "Attorney Calendar Conflict Resolution Order," a lawyer

member of the Disciplinary Board and a Disciplinary Hearing Officer shall,

when the Disciplinary Board is conducting a hearing, be deemed to be an

attorney engaged in a trial.

Commissioners may select one layperson (as defined in Rule 4(a)(1)) residing in his or

her circuit to be eligible for appointment as a lay member of a Disciplinary Board. The

names of those laypersons selected shall be placed on a list to be known as the "lay

list." The Board of Bar Commissioners shall select ten persons whose names appear on

the lay list; the Board of Bar Commissioners shall appoint five of those ten persons to

be members of the Disciplinary Boards (one layperson per Board); these five persons

shall serve as Disciplinary Board members for the ensuing year and each of the

remaining five laypersons shall serve as an alternate, subject to appointment as a

layperson member of a Disciplinary Board in the event the regular layperson member of

a panel is not available to participate in a particular matter before the panel (see Rule

4(a)(3)). The Supreme Court of Alabama shall be notified immediately of the Board of

Bar Commissioners' selection of the ten persons whose names appear on the lay list

and may, within thirty days of receiving notice, overrule any or all of the persons

selected. Each person whose name appears on the lay list shall be subject to all rules,

orders, and requirements of confidentiality that the lawyer members of the Disciplinary

Board are subject to.

(d) Establishment of Quorum; Majority Required for Disciplinary Board to Act.

Three members shall constitute a quorum, provided, however, that the quorum must

include a lay member. A panel shall act only with the concurrence of a majority of its five

members, notwithstanding that fewer than all members are present to conduct the

proceeding.

(e) Recusal From Proceedings. Disciplinary Board members and Disciplinary

Hearing Officers shall recuse themselves from any proceeding in which a judge,

similarly situated, would be required to recuse himself or herself.

(f) Reimbursement of Expenses; No Compensation for Services. Members of

a Disciplinary Board shall receive no compensation for their services but may be

reimbursed for their travel and for other actual and necessary expenses incidental to the

performance of their duties as members of the Disciplinary Board.

(g) Adoption of Rules. The Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar

may adopt additional rules of procedure applicable to the Disciplinary Board.

History

[Amended 10-14-94, eff. 1-1-95; Amended eff. 6-1-99; Amended eff. 8-1-2000; Amended eff. 10-30-2000; Amended 9-12-2008, eff. 10-6-2008; Amended eff. 10- 292014; Amended eff. 1-5-2023.] Court Comment The order adopting this rule is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from 727 So.2d. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 4, effective August 1, 2000, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from 753 So.2d. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 4(a)(1), 4(a)(2), and 4(d), effective October 30, 2000, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from 776 So.2d. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 4, Rule 4.1, Rule 4.2, Rule 5, Rule 8, Rule 12, Rule 15, Rule 20, Rule 21, Rule 22, Rule 23, Rule 27, Rule 28, Rule 29, Rule 32, Rule 33, and Rule 35, and adopting Rule 12.1, effective October 6, 2008, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from 994 So.2d. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 4(a)(1), Rule 4.2(a)(1), and Rule 4.2(a)(4), effective October 29, 2014, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from ___ So. 3d. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 4, Rule 4.2 and Rule 5, Alabama Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, effective January 5, 2023, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from __ So. 3d.

Provenance

Source: judicial.alabama.gov
Retrieved: 2026-09-15
Edition: 2026-09-15
Content hash: bf61e38ba557eaff4485603ff8a6a33838f951c887af31506c1ba0ca63b98836

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