Rule 3.8 - Subpoena and contempt power(a) Hearing Panel Subcommittees of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board shall have power to issue subpoenas or any other lawful process through their Chairperson or the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Chairperson of a Hearing Panel Subcommittee or the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall prepare and have available for issuance at the request of any party, subpoenas returnable before the Hearing Panel Subcommittee, or the parties in the case of a deposition, for attendance of witnesses or for the production of documentary evidence. Subpoenas and other process of Hearing Panel Subcommittees of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board may be served in accordance with the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure. The failure of any person without adequate excuse to obey a subpoena or other process of a Hearing Panel Subcommittee shall constitute contempt of the Board. All witnesses, including complainants, shall be entitled to such witness fees and expenses as in any civil proceeding in this State.(b) Whenever a subpoena is sought in this State pursuant to the law of another jurisdiction for use in lawyer disciplinary or disability proceedings, whether during the investigative or hearing state, and where issuance of the subpoena has been duly approved under the law of the other jurisdiction, the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board, the Chairperson of a Hearing Panel Subcommittee or the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals may issue a subpoena as provided in this Rule or in Rule 2.4 to compel the attendance of witnesses and production of documents in West Virginia.(c) A Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board may punish breaches of order and unprofessional conduct in its presence by censure or exclusion from the hearing or may invoke the aid of any circuit court in keeping order. Such court, in case of refusal of any person to maintain order before a Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board, shall issue an order requiring such person to maintain order. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as contempt thereof. A Hearing Panel Subcommittee may, in its discretion, designate a person to serve as bailiff. W. Va. R. Law. Disci. Proc. 3.8
Amended by order entered December 6, 1994, effective 1/1/1995 and by order entered5/6/1999, effective 7/1/1999.