POLICIES AND ORDERS

COMMISSION POLICY REGARDING MOTIONS FOR SEALING DOCUMENTS

At its meeting on September 6, 1996, the Commission determined to establish an administrative policy, effective immediately, addressing public assess to a hearing file during the period between the filing of a motion to seal and the ruling on such a motion. During that time period the Clerk of the Commission will treat the file as public, absent a contrary written order from the Chair of the Hearing Panel.

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
ISSUED BY THE ARDC REVIEW BOARD

It is hereby ordered:

1. In all cases pending before the Review Board, parties shall be allowed to withdraw the certified copy of the record on appeal prepared by the Clerk of the Commission for purposes of preparing their briefs.

2. Whenever a party withdraws the certified record, the party is required to return the record to the Clerk at the time their brief is filed. The Clerk is hereby directed to refuse to accept for filing any brief submitted without the certified record where the party submitting the brief has withdrawn the record and has not previously returned it. In such a case, a party may move for leave to file the brief without returning the record if the party first makes payment to the Clerk for the costs of preparing the record and submits with the motion proof of such payment.

Adopted by the Review Board this 12th day of May, 1995.

Robert J. Downing
Review Board Chair

At the June 2005 meeting, the Commission adopted the following amended policies. These policies became effective on June 17, 2005.

No Board member shall represent a respondent in any disciplinary proceeding or action, pending or filed during his/her term as a Board member. A disciplinary proceeding includes, but is not limited to, all investigations, all proceedings before the Inquiry, Hearing and Review Boards, and all related proceedings before the Illinois Supreme Court. For purposes of this policy, the term "Board member" shall include all members of the Commission, Hearing Board, Review Board, Inquiry Board, Oversight Committee, and Client Protection Review Panel.

A Board member shall withdraw from participation in a matter or proceeding in which the member’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned or when there is a substantial showing that the member cannot participate in a fair and reasonable manner, including but not limited to instances where:

1. the member has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party’s lawyer, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceedings;

2. an attorney-client or other fiduciary relationship exists between a party or party’s lawyer and an attorney member or an individual with whom the attorney member is currently associated in the practice of law. For purposes of this policy a member shall not be disqualified if he is represented by Counsel for the Administrator in any action brought as a result of the member’s actions in a Commission matter;

3. a party or a party’s lawyer has a substantial business relationship with a public member or a substantial business relationship with an individual with whom the public member is currently professionally associated;

4. a party or party’s lawyer appearing before the member is a co-counsel or adversary counsel of the member in another pending matter in any forum or a party or party’s lawyer and the member have any pending matters in which either has acted as referring counsel. For purposes of this policy a referring counsel is one who receives some economic benefit as defined in Rule 1.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct;

5. the member served as a lawyer in connection with any events relating to the matter or proceeding, or a lawyer with whom the member practices law served as a lawyer in connection with any events relating to the matter or proceeding. For purposes of this subparagraph a lawyer in a governmental agency does not necessarily have an association with other lawyers employed by that agency;

6. the member, individually or as a fiduciary, or the spouse of the member, or any child living in the member’s household, has more than a de minimis financial interest in any events relating to the matter or proceeding.

For purposes of this policy, the term "Board member" shall include all members of the Review Board, Hearing Board, Inquiry Board, and Client Protection Review Panel.

No Board member shall voluntarily testify as a character witness in any matter before the Hearing Board. If a Board member is subpoenaed to testify before the Hearing Board, the member shall not lend the authority of his/her position to advance the private interest of others and shall not convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the Hearing Board. Further, if a Board member testifies as a character witness, the member shall not discuss any aspect of the case with any other Board member, personnel of the Clerk of the Commission, or Adjudication Counsel. A Board member shall not testify as an expert witness in any matter before the Hearing Board. For purposes of this policy, the term "Board member" shall include all members of the Commission, Review Board, Hearing Board, Inquiry Board, Oversight Committee, and Client Protection Review Panel.