Pa. Disciplinary Bd. R. 89.7

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Avoidance of delay. All formal proceedings under these rules shall be as expeditious as possible, but the failure of the Board to comply with any of the procedural time periods in these rules shall not result in the dismissal of a petition for discipline or a lessening of the charges set forth therein. Only the Board Chair may extend the time for hearing or grant any other extension of time in a formal proceeding.

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Notice to other tribunals. Upon receipt of notice fixing a date in connection with a formal proceeding (including a hearing date before a hearing committee or special master or oral argument before the Board) or the date of a meeting of the Board, any involved person within 48 hours thereafter shall deliver written notice (which shall not identify the respondent-attorney) of the fixing of such date to the clerk, prothonotary, court administrator, chairperson or other appropriate administrative officer of any court, administrative agency or other body with which a conflict might reasonably arise, and shall file a copy of such notice with the Board Prothonotary.

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Application for continuance. An application for continuance of a hearing shall be made either in writing or on the record at the hearing and shall set forth the basis for the application and the facts supporting it. The application shall be addressed to the chair of the hearing committee or the special master conducting the hearing, who may deny it or recommend its approval to the Board Chair. A denial by the chair of a hearing committee or special master may be reviewed by the Board Chair. A continuance of a hearing other than adjournment to a day certain not more than 15 days hence shall not be granted by a hearing committee or special master without the concurrence of the Board Chair.

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Grounds for continuances. Enforcement Rule 208(i) provides that all formal proceedings under this chapter shall be conducted as expeditiously as possible; that ordinarily the engagement of an involved person will be recognized as a basis for continuance of a formal proceeding or meeting of the Board only where the involved person is actually engaged before an appellate court of this Commonwealth or a court of the United States; and that engagement of an involved person before any other court, administrative agency or other body shall not be recognized as a basis for continuance except upon a showing of unforeseen and compelling circumstances prohibiting appearance.

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Definition. As used in this section, the term "involved person" includes a member of the Board, a hearing committee member assigned to act on any aspect of the matter, a special master assigned to the matter and counsel for the respondent-attorney, as well as the respondent-attorney.

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