Under state law, California judges are mandated reporters of attorney misconduct. Judicial Ethics Code § 3D(2), Business and Professions Code §§ 6086.7 and 6086.8, and California Rules of Court rules 10.609 and 10.1017 each require judges to report specific types of lawyer misconduct. The reporting duty is mandated by law, and is not discretionary.
One type of common attorney misconduct is the failure to disclose adverse law in presenting a matter in court. The failure to identify law adverse to an attorneys position in court filings and during oral argument violates the California Rules of Professional Conduct, Business and Professions Code, ABA Model Rules, and decisional law. The document set embedded at the bottom of this post includes these authorities.
