Opinion ID: 901907
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: disciplinary goals

Text: [¶49.] A certificate of admission to the bar is a pilot's license which authorizes its possessor to assume full control of important affairs of others and to guide and safeguard them when, without such assistance, they would be helpless. In re Egan, 52 SD 394, 402, 218 NW 1, 4 (1928)(quoting In re Kerl, 32 Idaho 737, 188 P 40 (1920). It is also: a continuing proclamation by the Supreme Court that the holder is fit to be entrusted with professional and judicial matters, and to aid in the administration of justice as an attorney and as an officer of the court. It is the duty of every recipient of that privilege to conduct himself at all times, both professionally and personally, in conformity with the standards imposed upon members of the bar as conditions for the privilege to practice law. SDCL 16-19-31. We take this obligation most seriously. [¶50.] This Court has an affirmative duty to discipline members of the bar. SDConst art V, § 12. The attorney disciplinary process is intended to a) protect the public from further fraudulent, unethical or incompetent activities involving the lawyer; b) preserve the image and integrity of attorneys, the bar association and the legal profession as a whole; and, c) deter like conduct by other attorneys. Discipline of Eicher, 2003 SD 40, 661 NW2d 354. Its purpose is not to punish the attorney. Petition of Pier, 1997 SD 23, 561 NW2d 297. The preservation of trust in the legal profession is essential. Pier, 1997 SD 23 at ¶ 8, 561 NW2d at 299. Lawyers in the practice of law have a formidable responsibility to protect their clients' property, their freedom, and at times their very lives. Matter of Chamley, 349 NW2d 56, 58 (SD 1984). Only by providing high quality lawyering can the integrity of the legal profession remain inveterate and the confidence of the public and the Bar remain strong. Wehde, 517 NW2d at 133. In re Discipline of Mattson, 2002 SD 112, ¶ 40, 651 NW2d 278, 286.