Contact: Laura Ernde    SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29, 2014 – Members
of the public and the legal profession are invited to apply for
service on a new Discipline Standards Task Force. The
application deadline is Feb. 12.  The task force, which was
recently approved by the State Bar Board of Trustees, will
review the Standards for Attorney Sanctions for Professional
Misconduct to determine whether a comprehensive overhaul is
needed. The standards are used to determine the appropriate
disciplinary sanction in a particular case and to ensure
consistency in how cases are dealt with.  The standards
underwent a general clean-up and reorganization last year, but
during that process the idea was raised of making broader
changes, including creating narrowly tailored disciplinary
sanctions similar to sentencing guidelines.  “Recruiting top-
notch members for our new disciplinary task force is crucial to
ensuring that the guidelines receive careful attention, and that
citizens of the state are properly protected,” State Bar Pre