Today’s Rule of Law crisis stems from decades of Bar Enforcement Authorities (BEAs) simply not enforcing the legal profession’s Ethics Rules. BEAs in DC, VT, and virtually every other jurisdiction have literally never enforced their professed Honor Code (Rule 8.3), and many have virtually never enforced Rule 3.1, which prohibits attorney statements lacking a good faith basis.

By 1993, notable scholars had warned that “Every year produces … renewed doubts about the ability of the profession to police itself,” and, in 2003, the ABA and every jurisdiction exponentially expanded attorneys’ duties to speak up in the face of crimes, fraud (and ethics violations). Disclosure mandates previously limited to future bodily harm were expanded to financial and even anticipated harm. Yet BEAs ignore them.

RTL focuses on DC because of its demonstrated BEA violations and heightened importance to democracy. RTL focuses on VT because its own Survey shows that 3.1 alone is violated over 1,000 times per year.

Stopping these failures is critical to preserving our democracy by reversing the normalization of this misconduct. Following public outcry from just one scandal, California recently: (1) investigated and disclosed its BEAs’ “shocking … culture of unethical and unacceptable behavior;” (2) enacted an 8.3 expressly requiring reporting to Courts (not just BEAs); and (3) appointed a Non-Attorney to Chair oversight. DC, VT & other jurisdictions should follow.