California Attorney Ethics - Rules of Professional Conduct - State Bar Act - Moral Turpitude - California Lawyers

California Attorney Ethical Standards & Law Updated at SFCN Attorney Misconduct Page 

The California Supreme Court and State Bar are responsible for oversight and accountability of attorneys in the state. 

Sacramento Family Court News has just updated our Attorney Misconduct page with additional ethical standards all lawyers must by law comply with. Click here to view the page. The new information includes more than 40 disciplinary decision references from the State Bar publication California Compendium on Professional Responsibility. Click here to view the complete set of over 40 references at GoogleDocs. The annually updated 456 page Compendium collects hundreds of attorney misconduct case law decisions which specify the types of misconduct that violate the Rules of Professional Conduct and State Bar Act. The decisional law listed in the Compendium carries the same weight as all other law in California, including the Code of Civil Procedure, Penal Code, Family Code and all other statutory law.   

The Attorney Misconduct page updates include:  

• As "officers of the court," lawyers must disclose in court filings and in argument before a judge the facts, law and other authorities harmful or adverse to their position, in addition to the facts, law and authority supporting their position. The failure to disclose adverse facts and legal authority is unlawful, unethical, and considered sanctionable misconduct, according to the State Bar.
• As members of the State Bar and officers of the court, attorneys are required to be honest at all times, even when off-duty and not acting as a lawyer, according to the State Bar. Dishonesty, whether or not committed while acting as an attorney, is prohibited by Business and Professions Code § 6106, according to the State Bar. 
• It is illegal for a lawyer to mislead or make misrepresentations to an opposing attorney or party, including a self-represented litigant. Making offensive references or descriptions about an opposing party or attorney also is unlawful, according to the State Bar.

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