Special Committee for the Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct
(Ethics 2003 Committee)
Current Status
By order dated July 10, 2006, the Supreme Court approved the proposed Ethics 2003 amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct. In adopting the amendments, the Court modified the rules as proposed by the WSBA Board of Governors in a number of respects. The amended rules became effective on September 1, 2006. Click here to see the current rules (as amended). Click here for a redline version reflecting the changes. And click here for a summary of the significant changes.
Overview of Ethics 2003 Process
The purpose of the WSBA Ethics 2003 Committee was to review the revised ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, to undertake a comprehensive study and evaluation of the ABA revisions, to consider the suitability of adopting the ABA revisions and commentary in Washington, to consider other appropriate changes to Washington's Rules of Professional Conduct, and to submit its recommendations to the WSBA Board of Governors.
It was the hope of the ABA Commission on Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct (Ethics 2000) that as state supreme courts considered implementation of the revised rules, uniformity would be the "guiding beacon." Recognizing the importance of uniformity in rules regulating lawyer conduct, the WSBA Ethics 2003 Committee, in general recommended adoption of the Model Rules, together with the associated commentary, unless there was a compelling and articulable reason for deviation.
The Committee issued its Report and Recommendation to the Board of Governors in March 2004. In July 2004 the Board completed its review of the report and approved (as modified by the Board) the Ethics 2003 recommendation for presentation to the Supreme Court pursuant to the provisions of GR 9. The Supreme Court published the proposed rules for comment. (See Table of Proposed Rules below.) The comment period closed on April 29, 2005.
On July 12, 2005, the Supreme Court Rules Committee requested that the Ethics 2003 Committee evaluate and respond to concerns that had been raised during the public comment period. See Supreme Court Letter of Inquiry. The Ethics 2003 Committee reconvened on August 22, 2005, to address these issues, and the Committee unanimously responded to the Court's inquiries by letter dated September 2, 2005. See Ethics 2003 Committee Letter to Justice Johnson [Enclosure 1] [Enclosure 2] (PDF).
The Supreme Court adopted a modified version of the Ethics 2003 proposed rules on July 10, 2006, with an effective date of September 1, 2006. Click here for the full-text version of the amended rules as adopted.
Committee Information
Table of Proposed Rules
By order dated December 2, 2004, the Supreme Court approved the Ethics 2003 proposed amendments for publication. The full-text version can be found in the Official Advance Sheets of the Washington Reports, 153 Wn.2d No. 1. An electronic version is available here.
The Table of Proposed Rules includes the individual "clean" copy of the text of each proposed rule, complete with the text of its accompanying comment.
Report and Recommendation
The March 2004 Final Report and Recommendation of the Ethics 2003 Committee, as submitted to the WSBA Board of Governors:
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Report - Part 1 (Table of Contents, Overview, Summary of Recommendations, Conclusion)
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Appendix A - Redline version reflecting recommended alterations to Model Rules
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Appendix B - Redline version reflecting recommended amendments to existing Rules of Professional Conduct
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Supplemental Documentation
Meetings
The final regularly scheduled meeting of the Ethics 2003 Committee was held on March 23, 2004. At the conclusion of that meeting, the business of the Committee was completed and the Chair adjourned. The Committee reconvened on August 22, 2005 for a special meeting to discuss issues raised by the Supreme Court Rules Committee.
Committee News and Activities
Supreme Court Requests Additional Information
On July 12, 2005, the Supreme Court Rules Committee requested that the Ethics 2003 Committee evaluate and respond to concerns that had been raised during the comment period. (See Supreme Court Letter of Inquiry.) The Ethics 2003 Committee reconvened on August 22, 2005 to address these issues. The Committee unanimously responded to the Court's inquiries by letter dated September 2, 2005. See Ethics 2003 Committee Letter to Justice Johnson [Enclosure 1] [Enclosure 2] (PDF).
Ethics 2003 Recommendations Published for Public Comment
By order dated December 2, 2004, the Supreme Court approved the Ethics 2003 proposed amendments for publication. They were published for comment in the Official Advance Sheets of the Washington Reports, 153 Wn.2d No. 1. The comment period closed on April 29, 2005.
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