Rule 12 Prosecuting Counsel

The Chief Justice picks a lawyer, called prosecuting counsel, to handle formal misconduct cases against attorneys. This appointment happens in three situations: when the Committee recommends moving forward with a case, when the Chief Justice decides to act on a matter, or when the Supreme Court Clerk of Court takes action under a related rule.

Once appointed, prosecuting counsel has clear job duties. They must build the case against the attorney accused of misconduct and file a formal complaint with the Superior Court within 60 days. They also need to gather and present all the evidence related to the complaint, and if the case needs more digging, they must investigate further into what the accused attorney allegedly did wrong.

If prosecuting counsel wants to settle the case instead of taking it all the way through the process, they cannot do this on their own. The Superior Court has to agree to the settlement first. This means the court keeps oversight over how these cases get resolved, even when both sides might want to reach an agreement.