ELC 2.5
                  HEARING OFFICER OR PANEL


(a) Function.  A hearing officer or panel to whom a case has
been assigned for hearing conducts the hearing and performs
other functions as provided under these rules.

(b) Qualifications.  A hearing officer must be an active
member of the Association, have been an active or judicial
member of the Association for at least seven years, have no
record of public discipline, and have experience as an
adjudicator or as an advocate in contested adjudicative
hearings.

(c) Hearing Officer Selection Panel.  The hearing officer
selection panel makes recommendations to the Board of
Governors for appointment, reappointment, and removal of
hearing officers.  The panel is appointed by the Board of
Governors and includes, but is not limited to, a Board of
Governors member who serves as its chair, one or more former
Chairs of the Disciplinary Board, and one or more former
nonlawyer members of the Disciplinary Board.

(d) Appointment.  The Board of Governors appoints hearing
officers to the hearing officer list giving consideration to
recommendations of the hearing officer selection panel.  The
list should include as many lawyers as the Board of
Governors considers necessary to carry out the provisions of
these rules effectively and efficiently.  In making
appointments, the Board of Governors should consider
diversity in gender, ethnicity, geography, and practice
experience.  The Board of Governors also maintains a list of
nonlawyers willing to serve on hearing panels under section
(h).

(e) Terms of Appointment.  Appointment to the hearing
officer list, or the list of nonlawyers, is for an initial
period of one year, followed by periods of five years.
Reappointment is in the Board of Governors’ discretion.  A
hearing officer or panel member may continue to act in any
matter assigned before his or her term expires.  On the
recommendation of the hearing officer selection panel, the
Board of Governors may remove a person from the list of
hearing officers or from the list of nonlawyer panel
members.

(f) Chief Hearing Officer.  The Board of Governors appoints
a chief hearing officer who, in addition to hearing matters,
assigns cases, monitors and evaluates the performance of
hearing officers and panel members, establishes requirements
for and supervises hearing officer and hearing panel member
training, administers hearing officer compensation, hears
prehearing motions when no hearing officer has been
assigned, and performs other administrative duties necessary
for an efficient and effective hearing system.  If the chief
hearing officer position is vacant or the chief hearing
officer has recused or been disqualified from a particular
matter, the Chair may, as necessary, perform the
administrative duties of chief hearing officer.

(g) Case Assignment.  The chief hearing officer assigns
hearing officers to cases from the list of hearing officers
appointed by the Board of Governors.

(h) Hearing Panel.  If a hearing panel is assigned to hear a
matter, the chief hearing officer appoints the panel.  A
panel consists of three persons, with at least one from the
hearing officer list and at least one nonlawyer from the
list maintained by the Board of Governors.

(i) Training.  Hearing officers and hearing panel members
must comply with training requirements established by the
chief hearing officer.


[Adopted effective October 1, 2002.]