While certainly not all attorney assertions must be right, Rule 3.1 mandates that all have at least “a good faith argument.” Where attorneys repeatedly violate 3.1 or say things that are knowingly false, 8.3 requires other attorneys to report.

Yet VT’s BEAs have never enforced 8.3 or 3.1 … even after a 2023 Survey revealed that >30% of its lawyers see Rule 3.1 violations every six months (totaling >1,000 such violations per year).  The same Survey showed that >90% of VT’s Bar believes the increased lack of professionalism and civility increases costs and harms the public’s confidence in the justice system, but now over two years after the Survey, both Rules remain un-enforced.

In addition to the above already-public facts, VT BEAs have avoided enforcement by privately (in non-public proceedings) ruling without basis that:

-       ethics rules cannot be enforced by BEAs while litigation is pending (even for years);

-       3.1 cannot ever be enforced against BEAs in enforcement proceedings; and

-       8.3 does not apply to false statements of non-VT lawyers even when the statements are made in VT and cost Vermonters millions of dollars.

Until RTL revealed these private BEA rulings to VT’s Supreme Court in early 2025, BEAs were able to keep them secret even from the Court because VT BEAs operate in secret and their decisions not to enforce are not appealable.

Honor Code Broken provides greater detail on what’s above and was given in draft form to VT’s BEAs, Bar Association, and even Supreme Court in 2024 and 2025 with invitations to identify any statements believed to be incorrect or unpublishable. Not one was identified.

One VT Superior Court Judge has attributed VT’s under-enforcement to its Bar’s small size: “‘The small nature of Vermont makes it harder…. It’s hard to slap sanctions on someone that you know more than someone that you don’t know, there’s just no two ways about it.’” (HCB at 2 & n.1) But that can’t be the problem, as VT’s Bar is now 8 times the size it was 40 years ago, when no such scandal was even suggested. VT now has over 5 times as many lawyers per capita as then, and 8.3 and 3.1’s non-enforcement are critical to supporting this expanded number. Thus, VT’s non-enforcement not only threatens the Rule of Law but is a de facto tax on its citizens.

NDA Inquiry. VT’s BEAs were asked the same NDA-related question as DC’s: “Whether … ethics rules permit an attorney to use a non-disclosure agreement to prevent disclosure of attorney fraud or other ethics violations to the extent reasonably necessary to prevent, mitigate, or rectify substantial financial harm to clients or others resulting from the violations.” As has DC’s, VT’s Bar has remained silent despite knowing that the NDA at issue continues to cause >$150M in harm to others, including first-and-foremost persons of color.