Misogyny and Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4.1
By Deborah Wolfe
Apparently, in 2022, despite years of progress and women entering the legal profession at a rate of 51% compared to men, misogyny is alive and well — though perhaps less overtly than was tolerated in the past. However, the current Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC), in effect since Nov. 1, 2018, provide for the State Bar to take disciplinary action against lawyers engaging in discriminatory conduct of any kind against anyone when acting in their capacity as a lawyer. The former RPC dealing with virtually all types of unlawful discrimination by lawyers, 2-400, was a weak and rarely-used basis for discipline, and only applied to the “management or operation” of a law practice. Specifically, a 2-400 violation was not even actionable by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel unless it was first “found to be unlawful by an appropriate civil administrative or judicial tribunal under applicable state or federal law. Until there is a finding of civil unlawfulness, there is no basis for disciplinary action under this rule.”
