The Disciplinary Board has adopted a set of amendments to the Rules of Organization and Procedure of the Disciplinary Board in a pair of orders published February 13, 2021, 51 Pa.B. 781.
Order No. 99, amends several of the Rules. Changes include:
1. Amendments to Rules 85.2 (Definitions), 85.3 (Jurisdiction), 85.8 (Types of discipline), 91.95 (Additional steps to be taken to disengage from the practice of law), and 93.141 (Annual registration), to reflect the creation of the new status of permanent resignation created by the new Rule 404 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement.
2. Amendments to Rules 89.3 (Filings generally), 89.164 (Filing and service of briefs), and 89.202 (Content and form of briefs on exceptions), to reduce the number of conformed copies to be filed with original documents from three to one.
3. Amendment of Rule 93.27 (Conference telephone meetings) to allow Board members to appear in meetings for the purpose of hearing oral argument by means of conference telephone or similar communications equipment.
Order No. 100 amends Rule 85.10, Stale Matters, which defines when disciplinary matters may no longer be pursued. The disciplinary process does not have a statute of limitations as such, but Rule 85.10 serves that purpose by defining “stale matters” as those based on acts or omissions occurring more than four years before the date of the complaint.
The amendment provides that a complaint is timely if it is filed within four years of the events, or within two years of when litigation resulting in a finding of civil fraud, ineffective assistance, or prosecutorial misconduct becomes final, whichever is later. “Becomes final” is defined as “conclusion of direct or collateral review, including discretionary review in the Supreme Court of the United States and the highest state court, or at the expiration of time for seeking the review.”