Title 73, Professions and Vocations

(a) When any complaint or charge touching upon the professional conduct or conduct evincing unfitness for the practice of law against any attorney subject to discipline hereunder is received by the committee on complaints, the committee shall, within ten (10) days thereof, take t…

The complaint counsel shall immediately investigate the complaint; and upon completion of his investigation, excluding the investigatory hearing, he shall inform the accused attorney that a complaint has been filed against him and that he is under investigation, advise the accuse…

(a) The following rules for investigatory hearings by complaint counsel are for the guidance of complaint counsel and shall be strictly followed:(a) The complainant is not a party to the proceeding and has no right to be present at any stage thereof.(b) The accused attorney has n…

Complaint counsel will cause the testimony of any witnesses at an investigatory hearing to be taken and transcribed and shall certify the same to the committee on complaints, along with his written findings, within thirty (30) days from and after the date on which the complaint w…

(a) Within thirty (30) days of its receipt of complaint counsel’s report, the committee on complaints shall take the following action:(a) If upon review of the record, complaint counsel’s report and any written response by the accused attorney, the committee determines that there…

(1) All formal complaints shall be filed in the court and shall be prosecuted in the name of the Mississippi Bar. The formal complaint and other pleadings shall comply with the following requirements:(a) The formal complaint shall be filed with the clerk of the court within thirt…

Within five (5) days after the formal complaint is filed with the clerk of the court by complaint counsel, the chief justice shall designate a complaint tribunal to conduct a hearing on the formal complaint and to determine the matter; provided, however, the complaint tribunal so…

Within forty-five (45) days after the designation by the chief justice of the complaint tribunal to hear and determine the formal complaint, the complaint tribunal shall conduct a hearing of the matter at such place and within such hours as determined by the tribunal; provided, h…

(1) At the conclusion of the hearing the complaint tribunal, upon the majority vote of the members of such tribunal, shall render a written opinion incorporating a finding of fact and a judgment thereon. The judgment of the complaint tribunal may provide the following:(a) Exonera…

(1) The entire record of the proceeding of the complaint tribunal shall be filed with the clerk of the court within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the hearing or within such additional time as the clerk, on motion therefor, may allow. (2) If no appeal from the judgment …

Upon a final judgment of suspension or disbarment by a complaint tribunal, the convicted attorney shall not be privileged to practice law within this state unless and until he is restored the privilege of practice as hereinafter provided. Appeal from a judgment by the complaint t…

(a) At any stage of the disciplinary proceedings an accused attorney who is the subject of investigation may submit his resignation and agree to the entry by the court of a consent order of suspension or dismissal by submitting to the Board of Commissioners an affidavit stating t…

Any time after the entry of a final judgment of suspension and after the expiration of at least one-fourth (¼) of the period of the ordered suspension, the convicted attorney may file a petition in the court to modify or terminate said suspension; provided, however, any petition …

Upon the termination of the period of suspension, the convicted attorney may be reinstated by the court, pursuant to a petition filed with the court and a copy thereof served upon the Mississippi Bar. A filing fee of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) to defray the expense of in…

Whenever any attorney subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the court shall be convicted in any state court or in any federal court, or enter a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere therein, of any felony other than manslaughter or any violation of the United States I…

Whenever any attorney subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the court shall be disbarred or suspended from the practice of law in another jurisdiction, such disbarment or suspension shall be grounds for disciplinary action in this state, and certification of such disbarment…

All disciplinary agencies of the court, all court reporters, clerks, witnesses and parties are strictly enjoined to keep and maintain confidential all things concerning the matters under investigation and the proceedings thereon; provided, however, all proceedings before any comp…

All complaints filed pursuant hereto shall be absolutely privileged, and no lawsuit predicated thereon may be instituted, and each person, firm, association or legal entity filing such a complaint shall be immune from any civil suit predicated thereon. The board of commissioners,…

For the purposes of Sections 73-3-347 through 73-3-365, the term “personally incapable” to practice law shall include: (a) suffering from mental or physical illness of such character as to render the person afflicted incapable of managing himself, his affairs or the affairs of ot…

Whenever it has been determined that any attorney subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the court is personally incapable to practice law, he shall be suspended from the practice of law until reinstated by order of the court.

Proceedings to determine whether an attorney is personally incapable to practice law shall be instituted and conducted in the same manner and upon the same procedure as disciplinary proceedings, except as otherwise set out in Sections 73-3-347 through 73-3-365. In addition to, an…

In proceedings under Sections 73-3-347 through 73-3-365, the attorney shall be entitled to representation by counsel. An attorney who has been declared mentally incompetent, judicially, or who has been committed, judicially, to an institution for the treatment of the mentally ill…

Service of process or notice to an attorney who has been committed or declared incompetent shall be accomplished in the same manner as that for process of incompetents in proceedings in the chancery courts of Mississippi. After the appointment of a guardian ad litem, notices shal…

A certified copy of the court order declaring an attorney mentally incompetent, or an order of commitment if he has been committed to an institution for the mentally incompetent, shall constitute sufficient evidence that said attorney is personally incapable to practice law, if s…

In any proceeding where mental incompetency is an issue, the attorney may be required to submit to a mental examination by one or more practicing psychiatrists selected by the board of commissioners or by the complaint tribunal after its designation. Reports of physicians regardi…

If, after a full hearing, the complaint tribunal finds the attorney personally incapable to practice law, the complaint tribunal shall enter a judgment formally suspending said attorney from the practice of law until the further order of the court.

Procedures for the filing of the record and appeal from the judgment of the complaint tribunal shall be the same as the appeal procedures from a judgment of suspension or disbarment upon disciplinary grounds.

Procedures for reinstatement of an attorney suspended because of personal incapacity to practice law shall be, insofar as is applicable, the same as the procedure for reinstatement of an attorney following suspension upon disciplinary grounds. The petition for reinstatement shall…

All disciplinary agencies of the court are hereby authorized to incur reasonable and necessary expenses in connection with the investigation and disposition of charges and complaints.

The acceptance by a nonresident attorney of the rights and privileges of the practice of law within this state, as evidenced by his practice of law in this state, shall be deemed equivalent to an appointment by such nonresident attorney of the Executive Director of the Mississipp…

At any stage of the disciplinary proceedings, the board of commissioners may, in the exercise of its sole discretion, accept a plea of nolo contendere from the accused attorney and agree to the entry by the court of a consent order of suspension or disbarment of the accused attor…

This article shall not be construed to modify or restrict the inherent right of the courts of record of the State of Mississippi to supervise the bar as an incident to their power to admit attorneys to practice and to the fulfillment of their responsibility for the proper adminis…