DISBAR
To revoke an attorney’s license to practice law.
A disbarment proceeding is the investigation
into the conduct of a member of the bar in order
to determine whether or not that person should
be disbarred or disciplined. The state bar associ-
ation normally takes such action based on alle-
gations of a lawyer’s unethical conduct. For
example, the bar association might initiate an
action for disbarment against a lawyer who has
revealed information obtained from the PRIVI-
LEGED COMMUNICATION between the lawyer
and a client.
In one of the more high-profile cases of dis-
barment in recent history, the U.S. Supreme
Court in 2001 moved to disbar former President
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, thus preventing
him from practicing before the high court. The
Court’s action came after a similar move by the
Arkansas Supreme Court’s Committee on Pro-
fessional Conduct, which recommended disbar-
ment of the former president in that state. The
actions stemmed from charges of CONTEMPT,
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE, and perjury based on
misleading statements made by Clinton about
his relationship with White House intern Mon-
ica Lewinsky. Those charges led to Clinton’s
IMPEACHMENT by the U.S.House of Representa-
tives in 1998. Clinton agreed to a fine and sus-
pension imposed by the Arkansas Supreme
Court disbarment committee and later asked to resign from the U.S. Supreme Court bar.
