Williamson County Attorney Jana Duty reprimanded by State Bar – Austin American
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
The State Bar of Texas issued a reprimand to Williamson County Attorney Jana Duty this week related to her release of confidential information from an executive session of the county Commissioners Court, according to a court document.
The reprimand does not restrict Duty in her duties as county attorney, and the agreement reached between Duty and the State Bar means there will be no public trial, as Duty had previously sought.
Duty said Wednesday that the information she released was included in a lawsuit she filed to try to remove County Judge Dan Gattis from office and that she had justifiable reasons for doing so. That lawsuit, which was dismissed in January, alleged that Gattis had improperly hired outside attorneys to represent the county without the approval of the Commissioners Court.
The State Bar found Tuesday that Duty “committed professional misconduct,” according to a court document. The grievance was one of 24 complaints that the commissioners had initially filed against Duty with the State Bar in the spring. They accused Duty of violating State Bar of Texas rules governing professional conduct concerning competent representation, confidentiality of information and truthfulness in statements to others.
The State Bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline sued Duty in September on six of the grievances. She said Wednesday that the State Bar had dismissed 23 of the 24 grievances. A representative for the State Bar could not be reached Wednesday, but bar officials have previously said that dismissed grievances are confidential under the bar’s procedural rules.
“I’m very pleased that this is behind me,” Duty said. “In the end, I would have loved to take this final politically motivated grievance all the way to trial, but my personal legal fees alone would have likely exceeded $100,000. Additionally, it would have been an enormous distraction from continuing to do what the people of this county elected me to do: protect our families, save tax dollars and fight the good-old-boy system at the courthouse.”
Duty has been publicly feuding with the commissioners over various issues relating to her office for more than a year.
County Commissioner Cynthia Long said few lawyers receive public reprimands from the State Bar. “We felt like it was a very serious thing, and that’s why we went forward with filing the grievance,” she said. “I hope at this point she has learned you cannot violate the attorney-client privilege.”
County Commissioner Lisa Birkman said the reprimand against Duty “goes to show why we have a lack of trust in her legal ability.”
“The fact that she admits that she engages in professional misconduct is disturbing in someone in the position of trust she has,” Birkman said.
The professional misconduct claim cited by the State Bar relates to disciplinary rules that say that a lawyer shall not knowingly reveal confidential information about a client to anyone other than the client, the client’s representatives, or the members, associates or employees of the lawyer’s law firm.
Duty said there is an exception to that rule that allows for the release of otherwise confidential information when the lawyer believes it is necessary to comply with a court order, a Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct or other law.
“Laws were broken, and as a law enforcement official, I was morally and legally obligated to take action,” she said.
Gaines West, an attorney from College Station who has served on the disciplinary rules of professional conduct committee for the State Bar of Texas, said in a letter sent to one of Duty’s attorneys that he did not think Duty had violated confidentiality rules.
When a district judge receives a removal petition, such as the one Duty submitted to remove Gattis, the judge has to evaluate whether the matter “goes forward — without receiving any argument or evidence and with no possibility for an appeal,” according to West’s letter. Duty was “required to provide specific and detailed information to support her allegations of incompetency and official misconduct,” the letter said.
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