Attorney misconduct may include: conflict of interest, overbilling, false or misleading statements, knowingly pursuing frivolous and meritless lawsuits, concealing evidence, abandoning a client, failing to disclose all relevant facts, arguing a position while neglecting to disclose prior law which might counter the argument, or having sex with a client.
The advent of electronic record-keeping and "e-discovery" has also resulted in a record number of attorney sanctions for a range of abuses from failure to produce to the leaking of sealed documents.
[2] Legal malpractice is a separate concept such as when an attorney fails to adequately, professionally, competently, or zealously represent a client.
Some academic researchers and industry pundits have asserted that attorney discipline in the U.S. is ineffective,[4][5] and favors lawyers and law firms.
[7] In Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld rules prohibiting lawyers from making unsolicited in-person or telephone contact with potential clients.