Publicly published official documents from the 2015-16 Oregon State Bar (OSB) Discipline System Review can be found at the OSB website and via internet searches. You can also search for news stories about the Review using these words and limiting your search to the past year (unless you want previous years’ reports): Discipline System Review Committee Oregon State Bar
Currently, you can read the OSB documents from their publicly posted Discipline System Review Committee PDF.
“State lawyer group mulls controversial changes to make pending disciplinary records off-limits to public,” Portland Tribune, 05 January 2016, by Nick Budnick:
Excerpt: “The state agency that oversees the investigation of ethics complaints against 15,000 Oregon lawyers is considering changes that would hide from public view most pending complaints and destroy all public records of dismissed complaints after three years, a radical increase in secrecy for a system that’s received national praise for its transparency….” [Link to full Portland Tribune article.]
The article links to OSB disciplinary process reports, also currently linked to from the OSB homepage.
“Ethics and the Law in Oregon, spotlighted by a local lawyer,” editorial, The Bee, July 2015 (Vol. 109, No. 11)
Excerpt: “We have heard comments for quite some time, from folks in the legal profession, suggesting that large law firms in Oregon get preferential treatment by the Oregon Bar Association over the small firms and individual practitioners. Comments like that are easy to dismiss as simply sour grapes – but now, a lawsuit claims the same thing.
In a news report dated Friday, February 27, 2015, and filed by reporter Annie Ellison under the headline “Federal Suit Against Oregon State Bar Alleges Favoritism and Discrimination”, it is stated that “Software developer and former VP of Marketing for Oracle Corp. James Reilly and Victoria Jelderks filed the suit Feb. 26 against the Oregon State Bar Association and general counsel Helen Hierschbiel. ‘If you are from an influential firm in the State of Oregon, you can do whatever you want and the bar can dismiss it,’ Reilly said. ‘As a consequence, these big firms are breaking the law with impunity.’”.…” Link to full editorial at The Bee.
Oregon Personal Injury Lawyer Blog has this informative post: “Another Remedy for Clients Ripped Off by Oregon Lawyers,” March 20, 2012
“People call me when they have trouble with their lawyers. Often they want me to sue for legal malpractice. However, Oregon provides another route to seek compensation when a client loses money because an Oregon attorney is dishonest or crooked. That’s the Client Security Fund….” (Read the full blog post.)
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for research purposes only. We do not provide legal advice, nor do we endorse any person, product, or company.
Oregon Legal Research Blog