Pennsylvania Code › Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part V - PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CONDUCT › Subpart B - DISCIPLINARY ENFORCEMENT › Chapter 83 - PENNSYLVANIA RULES OF DISCIPLINARY ENFORCEMENT › Subchapter B - MISCONDUCT › Rule 214 - Attorneys convicted of crimes

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) An
					 attorney convicted of a crime shall report the fact of such conviction within
					 20 days to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. The responsibility of the
					 attorney to make such report shall not be abated because the conviction is
					 under appeal or the clerk of the court has transmitted a certificate to
					 Disciplinary Counsel pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) The clerk of any court within the
					 Commonwealth in which an attorney is convicted of any crime, or in which any
					 such conviction is reversed, shall within 20 days after such disposition
					 transmit a certificate thereof to Disciplinary Counsel, who shall file such
					 certificate with the Supreme Court.
(c) Upon being advised that an attorney has
					 been convicted of a crime, Disciplinary Counsel shall secure and file a
					 certificate of such conviction with the Supreme Court.
(d)
(1)
					 Upon the filing with the Supreme Court of a certified copy of an order
					 demonstrating that an attorney has been convicted of a crime, the Court may
					 enter a rule directing the respondent-attorney to show cause why the
					 respondent-attorney should not be placed on temporary suspension, which rule
					 shall be returnable within ten days.
(2) If a rule to show cause has been issued
					 under paragraph (1), and the period for response has passed without a response
					 having been filed, or after consideration of any response, the Court may enter
					 an order requiring tempo-rary suspension of the practice of law by the
					 respondent-attorney pending further definitive action under these
					 rules.
(3) Any order of temporary
					 suspension issued under this rule shall preclude the respondent-attorney from
					 accepting any new cases or other client matters, but shall not preclude the
					 respondent-attorney from continuing to represent existing clients on existing
					 matters during the 30 days following entry of the order of temporary
					 suspension.
(4) The
					 respondent-attorney may at any time petition the Court for dissolution or
					 amendment of an order of temporary suspension. A copy of the petition shall be
					 served upon Disciplinary Counsel and the Board. A hearing on the petition
					 before a member of the Board designated by the Chair of the Board shall be held
					 within ten business days after service of the petition on the Board. The
					 designated Board member shall hear the petition and submit a transcript of the
					 hearing and a recommendation to the Court within five business days after the
					 conclusion of the hearing. Upon receipt of the recommendation of the designated
					 Board member and the record relating thereto, the Court shall dissolve or
					 modify its order, if appropriate.
(5) At any time before a plea or verdict or
					 after a guilty plea or verdict of guilt in the criminal proceeding,
					 Disciplinary Counsel and the respondent-attorney's may file with the Court a
					 joint petition for temporary suspension of the respondent-attorney's on the
					 ground that the respondent-attorney's temporary suspension is in the best
					 interest of the respondent and the legal system.