Opinion ID: 1893113
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Designating petitioner by name in a subpoena

Text: Petitioner requests that Charge No. 5 be dismissed because he was designated by name in a subpoena duces tecum served upon a banking institution to obtain information supporting that charge. Rule 9(d), by express terms, requires that an attorney under investigation be designated only by initials. [4] Furthermore, the confidentiality requirements expressed in Rule 20 apply to all disciplinary investigations. There is no question that the full name designation of petitioner is a technical violation of Rule 9(d). Nothing in that rule mandates, however, that the sanction for a violation be dismissal of the charges under investigation, and in this case such a sanction would be most inappropriate. We note at the outset that bank records cannot be obtained without full identification of the bank customer. More importantly, it was not the subpoena that broke the seal of confidentiality, for petitioner himself did so by identifying himself by name in his proceeding in Hennepin County District Court to halt the director's investigation. As we have recognized, rules protecting confidentiality in disciplinary investigations need not be so strictly enforced when the one being investigated has exposed the fact of investigation, such that there is little confidentiality to protect. See In re Gillard, 271 N.W.2d 785, 813 (Minn.1978).