Decisions and Challenges After the Arbitral Proceedings - Disciplinary Hearing - Act III, Scene II - WAMR 2009 Vol. 3, No. 3
Catherine A. Rogers, international arbitration and
professional ethics scholar, was welcomed as a professor of
law by Penn State Dickinson in July 2008. Professor Rogers
holds a joint appointment as a professor of law at Università
Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy, and is the former
Richard C. Cadwallader Professor of Law at the Louisiana
State University Law Center. Professor Rogers’ scholarship
focuses on the convergence of the public and private in
international dispute resolution, specifically as manifest in the professional
obligations of the various participants in those processes. Her scholarship is
due to be published by Oxford University Press and Juris Publishing, and has
been published by the international law journals of Stanford, Michigan, and
Berkeley, as well as by several other national and foreign law reviews. She has
been an invited speaker at dozens of national and international conferences,
symposiums, and forums, including two Stanford-Yale Junior Faculty forums.
Professor Rogers is an associate reporter for the American Law Institute’s
Restatement of the Law of International Commercial Arbitration and the
recipient of the CPR Professional Article Award. She is a member of the
American Society of International Law Task Force on Global Legal Ethics, the
Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, and the
International Bar Association Task Force on Attorney Ethics in International
Arbitration. Before entering academia, Professor Rogers practiced
international litigation and arbitration in New York, Hong Kong, and San
Francisco. At Penn State Dickinson, Professor Rogers teaches International
Arbitration and Professional Responsibility.
Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)
Preview Page
20th Annual ITA Workshop
Confronting Ethical Issues in International Arbitration
June 18, 2009
ACT III
ACT III – DECISIONS AND CHALLENGES AFTER
THE ARBITRAL PROCEEDINGS
ACT III – SCENE II: DISCIPLINARY HEARING
MADAM CHAIR: This Hearing Committee of the State Bar is
hereby convened, Bar Docket No. 6543-22, in the matter of José I.
Astigarraga, State Bar No. 123456. Bar Counsel, please proceed.
ROBERT LUTZ: Madam Chair, Members of the Committee, I am
Bob Lutz, Bar Counsel for State Bar. After due investigation, we
have charged attorney José Astigarraga with violating his
professional ethical obligations in connection with his
representation of Fly-Buy in an international arbitration that was
seated in Geneva, Switzerland. The complaint that prompted the
investigation was presented to our offices by Seller, a foreign
corporation organized under the laws of Sellerville, and the
opposing party in this Swiss arbitration. The complaint is based
on an improper conversation that Mr. Astigarraga had with
Seller’s former in-house counsel, Mr. Snider. The facts underlying
this matter are not in dispute. Mr. Astigarraga has conceded that
he did contact Mr. Snider and that the contents of the
conversation are accurately described in the complaint. So the
essential matter here is what rules govern and how are they to be
interpreted.
MADAM CHAIR: Counsel, this is a rather unusual set of
circumstances. None of the Members of the Hearing Committee
have ever been involved in disciplinary proceedings based on
attorney conduct in connection with proceedings that occurred in
Switzerland or, for that matter, in any other foreign jurisdiction.
ROBERT LUTZ: It is also the first case of its kind being handled by
our office. As you are aware, however, the State Bar has adopted
the ABA Model Rules, and Rule 8.5 extends the authority of the
state’s disciplinary authorities to the overseas activities of its