General Counsel receives and evaluates written grievances against attorneys. The grievant may be asked for additional information or copies of documents.

In most cases, the respondent attorney will be given an opportunity to voluntarily respond to the grievance at this early stage.

Once all the material has been reviewed, General Counsel will evaluate the matter and determine whether it should be docketed and processed further.

Matters that are not docketed are kept for two years from the date of initial receipt and then destroyed, as required by a New Hampshire Supreme Court Rule.

After the grievance has been docketed, it is called a complaint. If the respondent has not already responded, he or she is required to file a written response to the complaint. Failure to respond to a docketed matter can result in Rule 8.1(b) charges for failure to respond to a disciplinary authority.

Docketed cases are investigated further. Thereafter, General Counsel may either dismiss the matter or bring it before the Complaint Screening Committee.

A request for reconsideration of a decision by General Counsel, either not to docket a matter or to dismiss a docketed matter, must be made in writing within 10 days of the date of the written notice of the decision. Requests for reconsideration are submitted to General Counsel but it is the Complaint Screening Committee that considers and acts on the requests.

The nine-member Complaint Screening Committee consists of five lawyers and four non-lawyers. The Committee meets once a month in Concord.

All docketed complaints are fully investigated by the office's General Counsel. General Counsel then reports to the Committee on the results of the investigation.

The Committee will consider whether there is sufficient evidence of a violation of the Rules warranting further processing of the matter, and may take one of the following actions:

• Table the matter and direct General Counsel to obtain further information.
• Dismiss the complaint.
• Offer diversion to the respondent attorney as an alternative to discipline for minor misconduct.
• Determine that an evidentiary hearing is necessary and refer the matter to Disciplinary Counsel for further action, including presentation of the case to a hearing panel.

If a complaint is referred to Disciplinary Counsel for further processing, Disciplinary Counsel will conduct further investigation and legal analysis to determine whether there is sufficient proof of one or more violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The complainant and respondent attorney may be asked to meet with Disciplinary Counsel to discuss the matter.

Depending upon the strength of the evidence, Disciplinary Counsel may file a motion to dismiss for consideration and ruling by the Professional Conduct Committee. Otherwise, Disciplinary Counsel will issue a formal Notice of Charges against the respondent attorney or enter into a partial or dispositive stipulation with the respondent attorney.

The case will be scheduled for trial before a hearing panel on all contested issues. Complainants may be asked to appear and testify under oath in this proceeding.

After the hearing panel issues its findings and recommendations, the case will then be reviewed and decided by the Professional Conduct Committee. In cases where the Committee recommends a sanction of suspension greater than six months, the matter will be referred to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

The Hearings Committee consists of members who are both lawyers and members of the public, who are appointed to hearing panels to consider individual cases. The number of times that members are asked to serve on a hearing panel in any given calendar year depends on the number of cases in which hearings are required.

When Disciplinary Counsel, acting on a referral from the Complaint Screening Committee, makes a request for a hearing, the Hearings Committee Chair appoints a hearing panel from the Committee's members.

Each hearing panel consists of three to five members, with at least one non-lawyer member on each panel. The Hearings Committee Chair designates a hearing panel chair as well as a reporter who is responsible for writing the panel report.

The hearing panel, after hearing the evidence, makes findings of fact and conclusions of law in a written report and recommends that the Professional Conduct Committee either:

• confirm the panel's determination that the respondent attorney violated one or more Rules and issue a disciplinary sanction, or
• dismiss the complaint with a finding of no professional misconduct.

The 12-member Professional Conduct Committee consists of eight lawyers and four non-lawyers. The Committee meets in Concord once a month.

The Committee, acting as a whole, considers hearing panel reports and memoranda submitted by respondent attorneys and Disciplinary Counsel. Often the Committee also holds oral arguments.

The Committee considers the entire record and takes certain actions including the following:

• Dismiss the complaint.
• Find Rule violations and impose disciplinary sanctions, including reprimand, public censure or a suspension not to exceed six months.
• Attach appropriate conditions to any discipline it imposes.
• Offer diversion to respondent attorneys if appropriate.
• File a recommendation and the record of the proceedings with the New Hampshire Supreme Court on all matters in which the Committee decides that the appropriate sanction should be disbarment or suspension of more than six months.
• When appropriate, assess to a disciplined respondent attorney expenses incurred by the Attorney Discipline Office in the investigation and enforcement of discipline.