Opinion: Are you a COVID denier or an attorney worried about a Bar complaint because you filed a frivolous election fraud lawsuit? Don’t worry. The Arizona Legislature’s got your back.
By Laurie Roberts || The Arizona Republic
A few weeks ago, former Attorney General Mark Brnovich was hit with an avalanche of state Bar complaints for hiding the fact that his own investigation into the 2020 election turned up no evidence of fraud.
Meanwhile, we await more Bar complaints against lawyers as their frivolous election fraud lawsuits are laughed out of court for their utter lack of merit.
So what, you might ask, is Arizona’s Republican-run Legislature to do?
Why, eviscerate the State Bar of Arizona, of course. Several bills are breezing through the Legislature to limit the Bar’s reach or even kneecap it entirely.
Wadsack claims Bar threatened lawyers
One of them is the brainchild of Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack, who claims the Bar was at the center of a sinister plot involving COVID-19.
Wadsack is part of a bumper crop of new, far-right legislators who came crashing into the Capitol to wage war on drag queens, teachers, elections officials and even charter cities. (The latter, because she doesn’t like the way the City Council is elected in her hometown of Tucson.)
Her Senate Bill 1435 would end the requirement that Arizona attorneys join the Bar. Instead, the Arizona Supreme Court would have to pick up the job of policing the legal profession, presumably everything from handling complaints and providing continuing legal education to ensuring the lawyer you hire is both competent and ethical.
