Rule 34.17 - Disability suspension(1) In the event an attorney is at any time in any jurisdiction duly adjudicated a mentally incapacitated person, or a person with a substance use disorder, or is committed to an institution or hospital for treatment thereof, the clerk of any court in Iowa in which the adjudication or commitment is entered must, within ten days, certify the adjudication or commitment to the attorney disciplinary board.(2) Upon the disciplinary board's determination that an attorney is not discharging professional responsibilities due to disability, incapacity, abandonment of practice, or disappearance, the supreme court may enter an order suspending the attorney's license to practice law in this state until further order of the court. Not fewer than 20 days prior to the effective date of the suspension, the attorney or the attorney's guardian, and the director of the institution or hospital to which the attorney is committed, if any, must be notified in writing, directed by restricted certified mail to the attorney's last address as shown in the records accessible to the supreme court, that the attorney has a right to appear before one or more justices of the supreme court at a specified time and place and show cause why such suspension should not take place. Upon a showing of exigent circumstances, emergency, or other compelling cause, the supreme court may reduce or waive the 20-day period and the effective date of action set forth above. The supreme court may take judicial notice of any relevant proceedings. Any hearing will be informal and the strict rules of evidence will not apply. The supreme court may hold the hearings remotely or by telephone. The court's decision may simply state the conclusion and decision of the participating justice or justices and may be orally delivered to the attorney at the close of the hearing or sent to the attorney in written form at a later time. A copy of the order must be given to the suspended attorney or to the attorney's guardian and to the director of the institution or hospital to which the suspended attorney has been committed, if any, by restricted mail or personal service as the supreme court may direct.(3) Upon the voluntary retirement of an Iowa judicial officer for disability under Iowa Code section 602.9112, or upon the involuntary retirement of an Iowa judicial officer for disability under Iowa Code section 602.2106(3)(a), the supreme court may enter an order suspending the retired judicial officer's license to practice law in this state in the event the underlying disability prevents the discharge of an attorney's professional responsibilities. The suspension is effective until further order of the supreme court. A copy of the suspension order must be given to the suspended attorney or to the attorney's guardian and to the director of the institution or hospital to which the suspended attorney is committed, if any, by restricted mail or personal service as the supreme court may direct.(4) An attorney suspended pursuant to rule 34.17 must refrain, during the suspension, from all facets of ordinary law practice including, but not limited to, the examination of abstracts; consummation of real estate transactions; preparation of legal briefs, deeds, buy and sell agreements, contracts, wills, and tax returns; acting as a fiduciary; and when possible, advertising of the attorney's services or holding out to the public that he or she is a licensed attorney. The suspended attorney may, however, act as a fiduciary for an estate, including a conservatorship or guardianship, of any person related to the suspended attorney within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity.(5) No attorney suspended due to disability under rule 34.17 may engage in the practice of law in this state until reinstated by supreme court order.(6)a. Upon being notified of the suspension of an attorney, the chief judge in the judicial district in which the attorney practiced may appoint the Client security commission, an attorney, or attorneys to serve as trustee to inventory the attorney's files, sequester client funds, and take any other appropriate action to protect the interests of the attorney's clients and other affected persons. In appointing a trustee, the chief judge will give due regard to any designation or standby nomination made under the provisions of Iowa Court Rule 39.18 and to the recommendation of the office of professional regulation. Any trustee appointment other than the Client Security Commission itself is subject to supreme court confirmation. The appointed attorney serves as a special member of the Client Security Commission for the purposes of the appointment.b. While acting as trustee, the trustee must not serve as an attorney for the clients of the suspended attorney or other affected persons. The trustee also must not examine any papers or acquire any information concerning real or potential conflicts with the trustee's clients. Should any such information be acquired inadvertently, the trustee must, as to such matters, protect the privacy interests of the suspended attorney's clients by prompt recusal or refusal of employment.c. The trustee may seek reasonable fees and reimbursement of costs of the trust from the suspended attorney. If reasonable efforts to collect such fees and costs are unsuccessful, the trustee may submit a claim for payment from the Clients' Security Trust Fund of the Bar of Iowa. The Client Security Commission, in the exercise of its sole discretion, will determine the merits of the claim and the amount of any payment from the fund.d. When the suspended attorney is reinstated to practice law in this state, all pending representation of clients is completed, or the purposes of the trust are accomplished, the trustee must apply to the appointing chief judge for an order terminating the trust. Upon termination of the trusteeship or upon request of the Client Security Commission, any undistributed client files may be ordered immediately destroyed.e. Trustee fees and expenses paid by the Client Security Commission must be assessed to the suspended attorney by the Client Security Commission and are due upon assessment. Trustee fees and expenses assessed under this rule must be paid as a condition of reinstatement and may be collected by the Client Security Commission as part of the annual statement and assessment required by rule 39.8.(7) Any suspended attorney is entitled to apply for reinstatement to active status once each year or upon the expiration of such shorter intervals as the supreme court may provide. The supreme court may reinstate an attorney suspended due to disability upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the attorney's disability has been removed and the attorney is fully qualified to resume the practice of law. Upon the attorney's filing of an application for reinstatement from disability suspension, the supreme court may take or direct any action deemed necessary or proper to determine whether the suspended attorney's disability has been removed, including an examination of the attorney by qualified medical experts as the supreme court may designate. In its discretion the supreme court may direct that the attorney pay the expenses of the examination.(8) The filing of an application for reinstatement to active status by an attorney suspended due to disability constitutes a waiver of the doctor-patient privilege regarding any treatment of the attorney during the period of the disability. The attorney must also set forth in the application for reinstatement from disability suspension the name of every psychiatrist, psychologist, physician, hospital, or any other institution by whom or in which the attorney has been examined or treated since the disability suspension. The attorney must also furnish to the supreme court written consent that the psychiatrist, psychologist, physician, hospital, or other institution may divulge any information and records the supreme court or any court-appointed medical expert requests.(9) When an attorney has been suspended due to disability and thereafter the attorney is judicially held to be competent or cured, the supreme court may dispense with further evidence regarding removal of the disability and may order reinstatement to active status upon such terms as the court deems reasonable.Admi. Gen. Prov. Griev. Commi. and. Attor. Disci. Board. 34.17
Court Order January 26, 2016, effective 4/1/2016; 11/18/2016, effective 12/25/2017; 12/13/2017, effective 1/1/2018; Order November 16, 2018, effective 12/15/2018; court order September 14, 2021, effective 10/1/2021; court order July 11, 2023, effective 7/11/2023; court order December 12, 2023, effective 1/1/2024; court order January 26, 2024, effective 1/26/2024.