Rule 214. Attorneys convicted of crimes.

 (a)  An attorney convicted of a serious crime shall report the fact of such conviction to the Secretary of the Board within 20 days after the date of sentencing. The responsibility of the attorney to make such report shall not be abated because the conviction is under appeal or the clerk of the court has transmitted a certificate to Disciplinary Counsel pursuant to subdivision (b).

 (b)  The clerk of any court within the Commonwealth in which an attorney is convicted of any crime, or in which any such conviction is reversed, shall within 20 days after such disposition transmit a certificate thereof to Disciplinary Counsel, who shall file such certificate with the Supreme Court.

 (c)  Upon being advised that an attorney has been convicted of a crime within this Commonwealth, Disciplinary Counsel shall secure and file a certificate in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (b). If the conviction occurred in another jurisdiction, it shall be the responsibility of Disciplinary Counsel to secure and file a certificate of such conviction.

 (d)(1) Upon the filing with the Supreme Court of a certified copy of an order demonstrating that an attorney has been convicted of a serious crime, the Court may enter a rule directing the respondent-attorney to show cause why the respondent-attorney should not be placed on temporary suspension, which rule shall be returnable within ten days.

   (2)  If a rule to show cause has been issued under paragraph (1), and the period for response has passed without a response having been filed, or after consideration of any response, the Court may enter an order requiring tempo-rary suspension of the practice of law by the respondent-attorney pending further definitive action under these rules.

   (3)  Any order of temporary suspension issued under this rule shall preclude the respondent-attorney from accepting any new cases or other client matters, but shall not preclude the respondent-attorney from continuing to represent existing clients on existing matters during the 30 days following entry of the order of temporary suspension.

   (4)  The respondent-attorney may at any time petition the Court for dissolution or amendment of an order of temporary suspension. A copy of the petition shall be served upon Disciplinary Counsel and the Secretary of the Board. A hearing on the petition before a member of the Board designated by the Chair of the Board shall be held within ten business days after service of the petition on the Secretary of the Board. The designated Board member shall hear the petition and submit a transcript of the hearing and a recommendation to the Court within five business days after the conclusion of the hearing. Upon receipt of the recommendation of the designated Board member and the record relating thereto, the Court shall dissolve or modify its order, if appropriate.

   Official Note

   The subject of the summary proceedings authorized by subdivision (d) is limited to whether the conditions triggering the application of subdivision (d) exist, i.e., proof that the respondent-attorney is the same person as the individual convicted of the offense charged and that the offense is a serious crime, and will not include such subjects as mitigating or aggravating circumstances. The provision of subdivision (d)(3) permitting the respondent-attorney to continue representing existing clients for 30 days is intended to avoid undue hardship to clients and to permit a winding down of matters being handled by the respondent-attorney, and the permissible activities of the respondent-attorney are intended to be limited to only those necessary to accomplish those purposes.

 (e) A certificate of a conviction of an attorney for a serious crime filed under subdivision (b) or (c) shall be conclusive evidence of the commission of that crime in any disciplinary proceeding instituted against the attorney based upon the conviction.

 (f)(1) Upon the receipt of a certificate of conviction of an attorney for a serious crime, the Court shall, in addition to any order of suspension it may enter in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (d), also refer the matter to the Board for the institution of a formal proceeding before a hearing committee in the appropriate disciplinary district in which the sole issue to be determined shall be the extent of the final discipline to be imposed, except that a disciplinary proceeding so instituted shall not be brought to hearing until all appeals from the conviction are concluded.

   (2)  Notwithstanding the provision of paragraph (1) that a hearing shall not be held until all appeals from a conviction have been concluded, a respondent-attorney who has been temporarily suspended pursuant to this rule shall have the right to request an accelerated disposition of the charges which form the basis for the temporary suspension by filing a notice with the Secretary of the Board and Disciplinary Counsel requesting accelerated disposition. Within 30 days after filing of such a notice, Disciplinary Counsel shall file a petition for discipline, if such a petition has not already been filed, and the matter shall be assigned to a hearing committee for accelerated disposition. The assignment to a hearing committee shall take place within seven (7) days after the filing of such a notice or the filing of a petition for discipline, whichever occurs later. Thereafter the matter shall proceed and be concluded by the hearing committee, the Board and the Court without appreciable delay. If a petition for discipline is not timely filed or assigned to a hearing committee for accelerated disposition under this paragraph, the order of temporary suspension shall be automatically dissolved, but without prejudice to any pending or further proceedings under this rule.

   Official Note

   The ‘‘without appreciable delay’’ standard of subdivision (f)(2) is derived from Barry v. Barchi, 443 U. S. 55, 66 (1979). Appropriate steps should be taken to satisfy this requirement, such as continuous hearing sessions, procurement of daily transcript, filing of truncated briefing schedules, conducting special sessions of the Board, etc.

 (g)  Upon receipt of a certificate of a conviction of any attorney for a crime other than a serious crime, the Court shall take such action as it deems warranted. The Court may in its discretion take no action with respect to convictions for minor offenses.

   Official Note

   The actions the Court may take under subdivision (g) include reference of the matter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for investigation and possible commencement of either a formal or informal proceeding, or reference of the matter to the Board with direction that it institute a formal proceeding.

 (h)  An attorney suspended under the provisions of subdivision (d) may be reinstated immediately upon the filing by the Board with the Court of a certificate demonstrating that the underlying conviction has been reversed, but the reinstatement will not terminate any formal proceeding then pending against the attorney.

 (i)  As used in this rule, the term ‘‘serious crime’’ means a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for one year or upward in this or any other jurisdiction.

   The provisions of this Rule 214 amended through April 1, 1983, effective April 2, 1983, 13 Pa.B. 1179; amended February 7, 1989, effective February 25, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 763; amended November 17, 1989, effective December 9, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 5212; amended August 19, 1993, effective September 4, 1993, 23 Pa.B. 4204; amended March 5, 2004, effective March 20, 2004, 34 Pa.B. 1547; amended March 28, 2006, effective upon publication. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (315189), (308209) to (308210) and (315191).