RULES OF DISCIPLINE FOR THE
MISSISSIPPI STATE BAR

Effective January 1, 1984
As Amended Through May 15, 1999

RULE 8. COMPLAINT TRIBUNAL - POWERS AND DUTIES

[Amended 11-16-95]

(a) All formal complaints shall be filed with the Clerk of the court and the Court shall designate a Complaint Tribunal to hear and determine the matter. Hearings before Complaint Tribunals shall be as cases in chancery.

(b) At the conclusion of the hearing, upon majority vote, the tribunal shall render a written opinion incorporating a finding of fact and a judgment which may:
(i) Exonerate the accused attorney and dismiss the Formal Complaint; or

(ii) Publicly or privately reprimand the attorney; or

(iii) Suspend the attorney with or without probation for a fixed period of time and may specify conditions precedent to reinstatement; or

(iv) Disbar the attorney.
Procedure

(8.1) Within ten (10) days following the designation of a Complaint Tribunal, the presiding judge shall establish a tentative schedule for discovery, motion hearings and rulings, trial and adjudication, all of which shall be completed within one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of the designation of the Tribunal, unless extended by the Court on motion of either party for good cause shown.

(8.2) All Formal Complaints shall be prosecuted in the name of the Bar by Complaint Counsel unless the President or First Vice-President of the Bar shall appoint another attorney or attorneys to assist or proceed in the place of Complaint Counsel.

(8.3) The Formal Complaint shall be served in accordance with the applicable Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

(8.4) Unless an enlargement of time be granted by the presiding judge of the Complaint Tribunal, the attorney's answer shall be filed within twenty (20) days after a copy of the Formal Complaint is served.

(8.5) Trials shall be held in the attorney's county of residence; provided, upon written waiver by the attorney or upon motion made by either party and order by the Tribunal, trial may be held elsewhere. The presiding judge shall hear and determine all pre-trial motions and all non-dispositive motions and enter all appropriate orders. The tribunal may hold such pre-trial conferences as deemed appropriate. Trial upon the merits shall be held before the full tribunal and shall be held as expeditiously as possible consistent with due process.

(8.6) Imposition of Discipline. No discipline shall be imposed except upon clear and convincing evidence. After final hearing on the merits, the opinion of the Tribunal may provide the following:
(i) Exonerate the accused attorney and dismiss the Formal Complaint.

(ii) Publicly or privately reprimand the attorney. If the Tribunal is of the opinion that a private reprimand will adequately afford the disciplinary sanctions required by the particular circumstances, the Tribunal may order the attorney to appear before the Board of Commissioners of the Bar at the board meeting convening first after the reprimand becomes final or may have it forwarded to the attorney by the Clerk of the Court or by certified mail, return receipt requested, restricted delivery to addressee only. If the Tribunal is of the opinion that a Public Reprimand will adequately afford the disciplinary sanctions required by the particular circumstances, the Tribunal may order the attorney to appear before the Circuit Court of the attorney's county of residence on the first day of a term convening next after the date the reprimand becomes final or on some other similar day when a maximum number of the Bar and the public are present. When a reprimand becomes public, a copy shall be given to the person filing the complaint, the Executive Director of the Bar and to the judges of the circuit and chancery districts of the attorney's county of residence. A Final Public Reprimand shall be read by the senior judge or his designee at the time herein indicated and placed upon the minutes of the Court.

(iii) Suspend the attorney with or without probation for a fixed period of time, and may specify conditions precedent to reinstatement. When such orders of suspension become public, they shall be placed upon the minutes of the chancery and circuit courts of the attorney's county of residence, and shall immediately become matters of public record.

(iv) Disbar the attorney. Such orders, when entered, shall be treated as provided in subparagraph (iii), above.

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