Opinion ID: 1936105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: does the committee on professional responsibility have the authority to issue a subpoena itself, or must it obtain a subpoena through the clerk of this court?

Text: The Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, regarding investigations of attorney misconduct, designate the Committee on Professional Responsibility as an agency of the Court. Indeed, the Committee is referred to as a special master of the court and the Committee is to function as a grand jury in matters of attorney discipline. See Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar 3(c). The Court under these rules refers to the Supreme Court of Mississippi. Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar 1(a). All agencies of the Court who wish to issue subpoenas must apply to the Clerk of this Court to issue the needed subpoena. Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar 2(a). In this case, the Committee on Professional Responsibility inexplicably issued the subpoena itself, instead of applying for a subpoena from the Clerk of this Court. This Court has before noted that the power and duty of disbarment is inherent in this Court. In re Higgins, 194 Miss. 838, 844, 13 So.2d 829, 831 (1943). [I]t is a power implicit in the constitutional establishment of such courts that they shall have the authority to take such steps as will be necessary to their preservation and protection in the performance of those duties for which they were called into existence by the constitution itself. Id. The Committee on Professional Responsibility as an agent of this Court has a duty to investigate possible misconduct of an attorney on behalf of the Court. It is the Clerk of this Court who issues the subpoena to aid the Committee on Professional Responsibility in carrying out its duties. As a result, the subpoena issued is invalid, as it was not issued in accordance with the rules of this Court. Haywood v. Aerospec, Inc., 193 Ga. App. 479, 388 S.E.2d 367, 368 (1989) (holding improper subpoenas are unenforceable).