NHACDL - USAG Attempts to Block State Regulation of DOJ Attorneys

The NHACDL board took a public position on the proposed federal regulation which would give the US Attorney General the right to review any state bar complaint against a DOJ attorney and suspend the investigation. The NHACDL board comment and opposition to this proposed rule is below:

On behalf of the New Hampshire Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, I am writing in opposition to the proposed rule.  The rule would empower the Attorney General to suspend any bar disciplinary investigation against a current or former DOJ attorney indefinitely.  The proposed rule and related process create a classic conflict of interest and would shield DOJ lawyers from licensure regulation in a manner no other actor in the American legal system enjoys.  The proposal violates fundamental principles of federalism and eliminates decades of precedent that state high courts regulate the practice of law within their jurisdictions.  Simply put, no lawyers are above the law.  To preserve the rule of law all lawyers, regardless of employment, must be bound to the same high ethical standards. 

In opposition,

Jeffrey D. Odland, Esq.

NH Bar No. 18967

President, NH Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers