Levin, Leslie C., The Use of State Discipline to Sanction Attorneys General and Other High-Ranking Legal Officers (November 15, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5753303 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5753303
The United States Attorney General, state attorneys general, and high-ranking officials in their offices, like all lawyers, are subject to rules of professional conduct. Increasingly, when they push the boundaries of these rules and other well-established professional norms, individuals and organizations are filing state lawyer disciplinary grievances against them. While some see troubling conduct by these high-ranking government officials, others view these disciplinary grievances as politically motivated. State lawyer disciplinary authorities often try to avoid addressing these grievances. This article examines why it is nonetheless important for state lawyer disciplinary authorities-which are agencies of state courts-to act on certain grievances. It explains why the political process cannot be relied upon to respond to serious misconduct by these high-ranking legal officers, and why other institutions that could address misconduct are ill-equipped or unlikely to act. The article then describes developments in one state that make it more difficult for some grievants to file actionable grievances and for state disciplinary authorities to pursue certain grievances against these high-ranking officials. It explains why these developments are misguided. It then suggests some ways to accommodate the concerns and competing interests at stake when state disciplinary authorities receive grievances against these officials. The article also identifies some types of professional misconduct by these officials that are sufficiently problematic that state disciplinary authorities should act to address those grievances.