Section 5 - Certified Grievance Committees(A) Certified Grievance Committees. A certified grievance committee shall be an organized committee of the Ohio State Bar Association or of one or more local bar associations in Ohio that permits the membership of any attorney practicing within the geographic area served by that association without reference to the attorney's area of practice, special interest, or other criteria. There shall be only one certified grievance committee in each county. Two or more bar associations may establish a joint certified grievance committee in accordance with the procedure outlined in division (C) of this section.(B) Board Certification. Upon application by a bar association or bar associations and satisfaction of the standards set forth in division (D) of this section, the Board may certify a grievance committee to investigate allegations of misconduct by judicial officers or attorneys and mental illness, alcohol and other drug abuse, or disorder affecting judicial officers or attorneys and initiate and prosecute complaints as a result of investigations under the provisions of this rule. A certified grievance committee shall have authority to investigate a grievance filed against an attorney who resides or maintains an office in the geographic area served by the committee or where the misconduct alleged in the grievance occurred within the geographic area served by the committee. Except for a grievance that is referred by the director or Office of Disciplinary Counsel due to a conflict of interest, a certified grievance committee shall not have the authority to investigate allegations of misconduct against any of the following:(1) An attorney who is an officer of the bar association that established the certified grievance committee or a member of the certified grievance committee;(2) A judicial officer, except that the certified grievance committee of the Ohio State Bar Association may investigate allegations of misconduct against a judicial officer.(C)(1) Joint Committees. A bar association seeking to establish a grievance committee or the bar associations seeking to establish a joint grievance committee shall file a petition with the Board seeking approval to establish a certified grievance committee or joint certified grievance committee. The petition shall include all of the following: (a) The name of the bar association or bar associations seeking to form a grievance committee or joint grievance committee;(b) The names of the chair and other members of the grievance committee, provided the membership of a joint grievance committee shall be in proportion to the number of attorneys employed in the geographic area served by each bar association establishing the joint committee;(c) The name of the lawyer who will serve as bar counsel to the grievance committee;(d) In the case of a petition to form a joint grievance committee, a copy of the written agreement between or among the sponsoring bar associations that establishes and governs the operation of the grievance committee;(e) Any other information the Board considers necessary to evaluate the petition.(2) Upon receipt of a completed petition, the Board promptly shall determine whether the proposed grievance committee satisfies the requirements to establish a grievance committee and the standards set forth in division (D) of this section. Upon determination that the grievance committee satisfies these requirements and standards and upon certification of bar counsel as required by Section 6 of this rule, the Board shall certify the grievance committee as eligible to accept and investigate grievances and file and prosecute formal complaints as set forth in this rule.(D)(1) Standards for Certified Grievance Committees. To obtain and retain certification, each grievance committee shall satisfy all of the following standards: (a)Membership and term limits. Consist of no fewer than fifteen persons, including a chair who shall not serve as chair for more than two consecutive years. A majority of the members of the certified grievance committee shall consist of attorneys admitted to the practice of law in Ohio, and at least three members or ten percent of the certified grievance committee, whichever is greater, shall consist of persons who are not admitted to the practice of law in Ohio or any other state. Not more than twenty percent of the committee or five members, whichever is less, shall consist of attorneys who practice in the same firm, as defined in Prof. Cond. R. 1.0, or governmental office. (i) Each bar association responsible for appointing members to its certified grievance committee shall adopt and implement procedures that provide for the appointment of certified grievance committee members to specific terms of office, with the length of such terms to be determined by the appointing authority and subject to the ten-year limitation on consecutive service set forth in division (D)(1)(a)(ii) of this section. The expiration dates of the initial terms of office shall be established to ensure that the terms of members expire in different years.(ii) No member of a certified grievance committee shall serve or have served on the committee for more than ten consecutive years. A member's tenure on a certified grievance committee prior to January 1, 2016 shall be considered for purposes of determining the member's consecutive service on the certified grievance committee. A member who served on the committee for ten consecutive years may be reappointed to the committee if two or more years have elapsed since the conclusion of the member's prior service.(b)Meetings. Meet at least once every third month.(c)Office. Maintain a fulltime, permanent office that is open during regular business hours, has a listed telephone number, and is staffed by a minimum of one fulltime employee to process grievances received by the certified grievance committee and assist with other work of the certified grievance committee. A joint certified grievance committee shall designate a single office within the geographical region served by the joint committee, and the fulltime employee designated to assist the committee may be employed jointly by the bar associations that have established the joint committee.(d)Bar counsel. Nominate bar counsel, who shall be certified by disciplinary counsel pursuant to and perform the duties set forth in Section 6 of this rule. Bar counsel may be a volunteer or be paid for services related to disciplinary activities by or through the certified grievance committee. (e)Files and records. Maintain files and records of proceedings, in paper or electronic format and in accordance with the following schedule: (i) Records of the proceedings of the certified grievance committee and files related to any matter in which the committee filed a formal complaint shall be retained permanently;(ii) Files related to any matter in which the committee initiated an investigation shall be retained for ten years;(iii) Files related to any matter that the committee dismissed without investigation shall be retained for two years.(f)Funding. Be sufficiently funded by the sponsoring bar association or associations to perform the duties imposed by these rules.(g)Written procedures. Establish and file with the Board written procedures for the processing of grievances. The written procedures shall provide a method for notifying potential grievants that they have the option to file a grievance with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel rather than with the certified grievance committee.(h)Quarterly reports. File quarterly reports with the Board on the form and by the dates prescribed in Section 4 of this rule. Each certified grievance committee shall include in the report the results of cases referred to the Board-approved alternative dispute resolution methods along with recommendations for further action, including discontinuance or amendment of alternative dispute resolution procedures.(2)Continuing education. A certified grievance committee shall encourage each committee member, in the member's first full calendar year of service and each calendar year thereafter, to complete a minimum of one continuing education program or activity offered or approved by disciplinary counsel in one or more of the following subject-matter areas: (c) Execution of the responsibilities outlined in this rule for the review and investigation of grievances and the preparation and prosecution of formal complaints.(3) Web Site. A certified grievance committee shall maintain an Internet site that includes the address and telephone number of its office and a description of its duties and responsibilities.(E)(1) Annual Report and Biennial Recertification. On or before the first day of March, each certified grievance committee shall file with the Board a report of its activity in the preceding calendar year. The annual report shall be submitted on behalf of the certified grievance committee by the committee chair and bar counsel, and shall include all of the following:(a) A current roster of all members of the certified grievance committee that identifies the committee chair, the nonattorney members of the committee, the tenure of each member's service on the committee, and the expiration date of each committee member's term;(b) Information indicating compliance by bar counsel with the education requirements set forth in Section 6(C)(4) of this rule;(c) Other information considered necessary by the Board to ascertain the certified grievance committee's compliance with the standards set forth in division (D) of this section.(2) Based on the content of the annual reports for the two preceding years and other relevant information that may be available to the Board, the Board, on or before May 1 of each even-numbered year, shall do one of the following:(a) Recertify the grievance committee;(b) Notify the certified grievance committee of its noncompliance with specific minimum standards applicable to the operation of a certified grievance committee, the steps the certified grievance committee is required to take to remedy noncompliance, and the time in which the certified grievance committee must remedy noncompliance;(c) Initiate decertification proceedings pursuant to division (F) of this section.(F)(1) Decertification. The Board may decertify a certified grievance committee at the request of one or more of its sponsoring local bar associations or sua sponte. If the committee fails to adhere to the standards set forth in division (D) and (E) of this section and regulations adopted by the Board, if bar counsel fails to comply with the requirements set forth in Section 6 of this rule, or if the committee substantially fails to perform the obligations set forth in these rules, the director may issue to the chair of the certified grievance committee and president of the sponsoring bar association an order to show cause why the grievance committee should not be decertified by the Board for the reasons set forth in the order. The Board shall hold a hearing before three commissioners, chosen by lot, who do not reside in the same appellate district where the certified grievance committee is located. If the panel of commissioners recommends decertification, it shall issue findings setting forth all of the following:(a) The reasons for decertification;(b) All of the certified grievance committee's pending matters;(c) Any special circumstances by reason of which the committee should not be required to discharge its remaining responsibilities in any or all pending matters.(2) The Board shall review the report and findings of the panel recommending decertification and, by majority vote, may decertify the committee. In the absence of special circumstances, the Board shall not decertify a certified grievance committee, either at the request of a sponsoring bar association or sua sponte, before the committee has discharged to the Board's satisfaction the committee's remaining responsibilities in its then-pending matters.(G)Alternative Dispute Resolution. A certified grievance committee may adopt and utilize written procedures for handling allegations of client dissatisfaction that do not constitute disciplinary violations, to include mediation, office practice monitoring, and other alternative dispute resolution methods. Only alternative dispute resolution procedures developed by the Board shall be used by certified grievance committees. The procedures shall provide that mediators and facilitators shall not be members of or subject to the jurisdiction of the certified grievance committee.(H) Confidentiality; Oath of Office. No employee, appointee, or member of a certified grievance committee shall disclose to any person any proceedings, documents, or deliberations of the committee. Prior to taking office, bar counsel and each employee, appointee, or member of a certified grievance committee shall swear or affirm that he or she will abide by these rules.Amended September 9, 2020, effective 11/1/2020.