Posted: April 21, 2026
Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Comment Period Closes June 5, 2026
SCRP01-530. Unprofessional Conduct Complaints. AMEND. The proposed amendments are intended to clarify the Lawyer discipline process before the Office of Professional Conduct (OPC) and the Utah Supreme Court’s Ethics and Discipline Committee (the Committee), including what relief may be sought, who may file a disciplinary Complaint, the OPC’s investigation of the allegations in a Complaint, and the circumstances when the OPC may dismiss or decline to prosecute a disciplinary Complaint. The amendments also address the manner in which a Complainant may appeal the OPC’s dismissal of or declination to prosecute a Complaint to the Committee chair, the standards applicable to such appeals, and what records the chair will review in connection with an appeal. In addition, the amendments specify what may occur when the Committee chair reverses an OPC dismissal.
I agree with nearly all of these changes. I believe that this brings clarity to the OPC’s internal processes and provides attorneys and members of the public with increased transparency. My largest concern with the proposed amendment is minor; namely, whether Page 2, Line 45 the term “a third-party witness” ought to be written in the plural, so as not to be artificially construed to limit the OPC’s ability to interact with multiple third-party witnesses.