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36 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 273 (2023)
Imposing Lawyer Sanctions in a Post-January 6 World

handle is hein.journals/geojlege36 and id is 281 raw text is: Imposing Lawyer Sanctions in a Post-January 6 World ALEX B. LONG* ABSTRACT As was the case with the Watergate scandal fifty years ago, the number of lawyers involved in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results has raised questions about the state of ethics within the legal profession. So far, the profes- sion's response to the crisis has been to rely on the professional disciplinary system to address the alleged misconduct of the lawyers involved. This decision raises a question as to whether the collection of state professional disciplinary systems are up to the task. The conduct of Jeffrey Clark, the DOJ lawyer who sought to convince state officials to convene special legislative sessions to investigate supposed widespread voter fraud, raises particular concerns related to the disciplinary process as applied to government lawyers. The events sur- rounding the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol provide the legal profession with an opportunity to take a fresh look at the Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions and address existing shortcomings. This Article identifies some of those shortcomings and uses the case of Jeffrey Clark to high- light some of the Standards' particular pitfalls as they apply to government law- yers' misconduct. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................... 275 I. THE MODEL RULES, THE STANDARDS FOR IMPOSING LAWYER SANCTIONS, AND THE PURPOSES OF THE LAWYER DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM.............................. . 279 A. THE GOALS OF THE LAWYER DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM AND THE MODEL RULES .......................... ...280 B. THE ROLE OF LAWYER SANCTIONS IN ADVANCING THE G O A L S. ..................... .................. 28 1 * Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law. O 2023, Alex B. Long. 273