Sec 7.5 Appeal of Conviction

When a lawyer is convicted of a crime and that conviction leads to a disciplinary case, the lawyer often has the right to appeal the conviction in court. This rule explains what happens to the disciplinary case depending on how that appeal turns out.

If the lawyer wins the appeal and the conviction gets thrown out, the disciplinary case connected to that conviction gets dropped right away. There's no need to keep pursuing discipline based on a conviction that no longer exists.

If the appeal fails and the conviction stands (or gets changed slightly but the lawyer is still guilty of a crime that shows they shouldn't be practicing law), then the disciplinary case moves forward. In that situation, the case follows the same steps laid out in Rule 7.4 to reach a final decision.