Matter of Hearing on Immunity for Ethics

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

WILENTZ, C.J.

On January 31, 1984, the Court adopted various rules concerning attorney discipline. One of those rules provides that any grievant in an ethics matter or client in a fee arbitration case shall be absolutely immune from suit for testimony or communications given or made in connection with the fee arbitration or ethics proceeding. The Rule would effectively bar libel and slander suits, for instance, as well as malicious prosecution suits. The Rule’s text follows:(b) Immunity for Grievants and Clients.

Grievants in ethics matters and clients…