II THE DISTRICT GRIEVANCE COMMITTEES 2.17 Evidentiary Hearings

Within fifteen days of the earlier of the date of Chief Disciplinary Counsel's receipt of Respondent's election or the day following the expiration of Respondent's right to elect, the chair of a Committee having proper venue shall appoint an Evidentiary Panel to hear the Complaint. The Evidentiary Panel may not include any person who served on a Summary Disposition or an Investigatory Panel that heard the Complaint and must have at least three members but no more than one-half as many members as on the Committee. Each Evidentiary Panel must have a ratio of two attorney members for every public member. Proceedings before an Evidentiary Panel of the Committee include:

A. Evidentiary Petition and Service: Not more than sixty days from the earlier of receipt of Respondent's election or Respondent's deadline to elect to proceed before an Evidentiary Panel, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel shall file with the Evidentiary Panel an Evidentiary Petition in the name of the Commission. The Evidentiary Petition shall be served upon the Respondent in accordance with Rule 2.09 and must contain:

1. Notice that the action is brought by the Commission for Lawyer Discipline, a committee of the State Bar.
2. The name of the Respondent and the fact that he or she is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.
3. Allegations necessary to establish proper venue.
4. A description of the acts and conduct that gave rise to the alleged Professional Misconduct in detail sufficient to give fair notice to the Respondent of the claims made, which factual allegations may be grouped in one or more counts based upon one or more Complaints.
5. A listing of the specific rules of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct allegedly violated by the acts or conduct, or other grounds for seeking Sanctions. 6. A demand for judgment that the Respondent be disciplined as warranted by the facts and for any other appropriate relief. 7. Any other matter that is required or may be permitted by law or by these rules.

B. Answer: A responsive pleading either admitting or denying each specific allegation of Professional Misconduct must be filed by or on behalf of the Respondent no later than 5:00 p.m. on the first Monday following the expiration of twenty days after service of the Evidentiary Petition.

C. Default: A failure to file an answer within the time permitted constitutes a default, and all facts alleged in the Evidentiary Petition shall be taken as true for the purposes of the Disciplinary Proceeding. Upon a showing of default, the Evidentiary Panel shall enter an order of default with a finding of Professional Misconduct and shall conduct a hearing to determine the Sanctions to be imposed.

D. Request for Disclosure: The Commission or Respondent may obtain disclosure from the other party of the information or material listed below by serving the other party, no later than thirty days before the first setting of the hearing. The responding party must serve a written response on the requesting party within thirty days after service of the request, except that a Respondent served with a request before the answer is due need not respond until fifty days after service of the request. A party who fails to make, amend, or supplement a disclosure in a timely manner may not introduce in evidence the material or information that was not timely disclosed, or offer the testimony of a witness (other than a named party) who was not timely identified, unless the panel finds that there was good cause for the failure to timely make, amend, or supplement the disclosure response; or the failure to timely make, amend, or supplement the discovery response will not unfairly surprise or unfairly prejudice the other party. No objection or assertion of work product is permitted to a request under this Rule. A party may request disclosure of any or all of the following:

1. The correct names of the parties to the Disciplinary Proceeding.
2. In general, the factual bases of the responding party’s claims or defenses (the responding party need not marshal all evidence that may be offered at trial).
3. The name, address, and telephone number of persons having knowledge of relevant facts, and a brief statement of each identified person’s connection with the disciplinary matter.
4. For any testifying expert, the expert’s name, address, and telephone number; the subject matter on which the expert will testify, and the general substance of the expert’s mental impressions and opinions and a brief summary of the basis for them.
5. Any witness statements.

E. Limited Discovery: In addition to the Request for Disclosure, the Commission and the Respondent may conduct further discovery with the following limitations:

1. All discovery must be conducted during the discovery period, which begins when the Evidentiary Petition is filed and continues until thirty days before the date set for hearing.
2. Each party may have no more than six hours in total to examine and crossexamine all witnesses in oral depositions.
3. Any party may serve on the other party no more than twenty-five written interrogatories, excluding interrogatories asking a party only to identify or authenticate specific documents. Each discrete subpart of an interrogatory is considered a separate interrogatory.
4. Any party may serve on the other party requests for production and inspection of documents and tangible things.
5. Any party may serve on the other party requests for admission.

F. Modification of Discovery Limitations: Upon a showing of reasonable need, the Evidentiary Panel chair may modify the discovery limitations set forth in Rule 2.17E. The parties may by agreement modify the discovery limitations set forth in Rule 2.17E.

G. Discovery Dispute Resolution: Except where modified by these rules, all discovery disputes shall be ruled upon by the Evidentiary Panel chair generally in accord with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; provided, however, that no ruling upon a discovery dispute shall be a basis for reversal solely because it fails to strictly comply with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

H. Subpoena Power: The Commission or the Respondent may compel the attendance of witnesses, including the Respondent, and the production of documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things by subpoena. A subpoena must notify the witness of the time, date, and place of appearance or production; contain a description of the materials to be produced; be signed by the Evidentiary Panel chair; and be served personally or in accordance with Rule 21a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Proof of service may be by certification of the server or by return receipt. Any contest between the Commission and the Respondent about the materiality of the testimony or production
sought will be determined by the Evidentiary Panel chair, and is subject to review. The Commission or the Respondent may seek enforcement of a subpoena in the district court of the county in which the attendance or production is required. A witness, other than the Respondent, who is commanded to appear at an Evidentiary Panel hearing is entitled to the same fee and expense reimbursement as a witness commanded to appear in district court.

I. Enforcement of Subpoenas and Examination Before a District Judge: If any witness, including the Respondent, fails or refuses to appear or to produce the things named in the subpoena, or refuses to be sworn or to affirm or to testify, the witness may be compelled to appear and produce tangible evidence and to testify at a hearing before a district judge of the county in which the subpoena was served. The application for such a hearing is to be styled “In re: Hearing Before The District ________ Grievance Committee.” The court shall order a time, date, and place for the hearing and shall notify the Commission, the Respondent, and the witness. Unless the Respondent requests a public hearing, the proceedings before the court shall be closed and all records relating to the hearing shall be sealed and made available only to the Commission, the Respondent, or the witness. If the witness fails or refuses to appear, testify, or produce such tangible evidence, he or she shall be punished for civil contempt.

J. Right to Counsel: The Respondent and the Complainant may, if they so choose, have counsel present during any evidentiary hearing.

K. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Upon motion made or otherwise, the Evidentiary Panel Chair may order the Commission and the Respondent to participate in mandatory alternative dispute resolution as provided by Chapter 154 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code or as otherwise provided by law when deemed appropriate.

L. Evidence: The Respondent, individually or through his or her counsel if represented, and the Commission, through the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, may, if they so choose, offer evidence, examine witnesses and present argument.¹  Witness examination may be conducted only by the Commission, the Respondent, and the panel members. The inability or failure to exercise this opportunity does not abate or preclude further proceedings. The Evidentiary Panel chair shall admit all such probative and relevant evidence as he or she deems necessary for a fair and complete hearing, generally in accord with the Texas Rules of Evidence; provided, however, that admission or exclusion of evidence shall be in the discretion of the Evidentiary Panel chair and no ruling upon the evidence shall be a basis for reversal solely because it fails to strictly comply with the Texas Rules of Evidence.

M. Burden of Proof: The burden of proof is upon the Commission for Lawyer Discipline to prove the material allegations of the Evidentiary Petition by a preponderance of the evidence.

N. Record of the Hearing: A verbatim record of the proceedings will be made by a certified shorthand reporter in a manner prescribed by the Board of Disciplinary Appeals. In the event of an appeal from the Evidentiary Panel to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, the party initiating the appeal shall pay the costs of preparation of the transcript. Such costs shall be taxed at the conclusion of the appeal by the Board of Disciplinary Appeals.

O. Setting: Evidentiary Panel proceedings must be set for hearing with a minimum of forty-five days' notice to all parties unless waived by all parties. Evidentiary Panel proceedings shall be set for hearing on the merits on a date not later than 180 days after the date the answer is filed, except for good cause shown. If the Respondent fails to answer, a hearing for default may be set at any time not less than ten days after the answer date without further notice to the Respondent. No continuance may be granted unless required by the interests of justice.

P. Decision:

1. After conducting the Evidentiary Hearing, the Evidentiary Panel shall issue a judgment within thirty days. In any Evidentiary Panel proceeding where Professional Misconduct is found to have occurred,such judgment shall include findings of fact, conclusions of law and the Sanctions to be imposed.
2. The Evidentiary Panel may:

a. dismiss the Disciplinary Proceeding and refer it to the voluntary mediation and dispute resolution procedure;

b. find that the Respondent suffers from a disability and forward that finding to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals for referral to a district disability committee pursuant to Part XII; or

c. find that Professional Misconduct occurred and impose Sanctions.

3. The Evidentiary Panel must impose a public sanction listed in Rule 1.06(FF)(1)-(7) against the Respondent if the Evidentiary Panel finds that the Respondent knowingly made a false declaration on an application for a place on the ballot as a candidate for the following judicial offices:

a. chief justice or justice of the supreme court;

b. presiding judge or judge of the court of criminal appeals;

c. chief justice or justice of a court of appeals;

d. district judge, including a criminal district judge; or

e. judge of a statutory county court.