Administrative Order 2020-6: Guidelines for Remote Disciplinary Proceedings

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT the Board on Professional Responsibility continues to adjust its operations to address concerns regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Administrative Order 2020-05 cancelled in-person proceedings through July 1, 2020, and provided that "oral arguments before the Board and limited hearings before Hearing Committees in negotiated discipline cases, will proceed as scheduled via videoconference."These remote proceedings will be conducted using the Zoom platform, and are intended to facilitate the fair and timely resolution of disciplinary proceedings, while protecting the health and safety of the volunteer adjudicators, the parties, the disciplinary system staff and the public.

Oral arguments before the Board will be live-streamed in their entirety on the Board's YouTube channel.For hearings before Hearing Committees, the audio only will be live-streamed on the Hearing Committees' YouTube channel. Links to those channels will be available on the Board's website.

 If the Board or a Hearing Committee conducting a remote proceeding determines at any time that the audio or video connection is so poor as to interfere with the fair administration of justice, the remote proceeding shall be postponed until such time as a better connection can be obtained or the matter can be set for an in-person proceeding.

It shall be the responsibility of a party or counsel for a party to promptly inform the Board, Hearing Committee or Board Case Manager if there has been a disruption of the communication that substantially interferes with his or her ability to see or hear what is occurring during the remote proceeding. An objection to the quality of an audio conference or a video conference should be made at the time the connection is substantially impaired, but must be made to the Board or Hearing Committee on the record before the remote proceeding has concluded.

The Office of the Executive Attorney has developed protocols to assist participants in the remote proceedings. Those protocols are available on the Board's website, and may be update from time to time.

The Board will make additional adjustments as circumstances warrant, and plans to issue another order regarding changes or modifications to operations subsequent to July 1, 2020.

• Please see Administrative Order 2020-06
• Please see Zoom Guidelines