problems with lawyers who were
unprepared, incompetent or un-
truthful. Despite experiencing se-
rious misbehavior in their courts,
more than half had never reported a
lawyer to the State Bar. The message
left with the judges is that lawyer
misbehavior is likely to continue if
there are no negative consequences
for the offenders.
RAPT has helped develop a proto-
col to be followed when it is appro-
priate for the Atlanta Bar to speak
on the behalf of judges who are
publicly criticized but are ethically
constrained from defending their
actions. Helping the public under-
stand why judges have no choice
but to follow the law even when it
produces an unpopular result fits
with the committee mission.
Fulton County Courthouse and is
also available on the Atlanta Bar
Website here.
Pamphlets are fine but what are we
to do about more complex mat-
ters? Most agree that our litigation
process takes too long and costs
too much. What can be done about
that? What can be done to increase
the likelihood of negative conse-
quences for unethical behavior?
RAPT continues to struggle with
these and other issues.
FOLLOW US ON
@atlantabar
Other matters considered by RAPT
include the State Bar’s Client Se-
curity Fund which seems inap-
propriately low when compared
to such funds in other states and
malpractice coverage. The public
may believe that all or most law-
yers have malpractice insurance,
but many do not. In some states,
lawyers are required to advise cli-
ents that they have no coverage.
We should do the same.
RAPT has prepared various writ-
ten materials. A good example is
a pamphlet describing the various
considerations which should go into
the process of hiring a lawyer. That
pamphlet is being distributed at the
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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