Interested in the public discipline history of a Minnesota attorney? Have questions regarding the management of your trust account? Curious about the difference between the Office of Professional Responsibility (OLPR) and the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB)? Wonder if your law firm needs to file a professional firms report? Want more information about the Client Security Fund and whether your client might have a claim against the fund for harm caused by their prior counsel? Three new and greatly expanded websites have you covered!
Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility
(olpr.mncourts.gov/)
This website, now featuring a new URL, contains much of the information that was located previously on a combined OLPR/LPRB site at lprb.mncourts.gov. Here you will find the Lawyers Search function to check for public discipline of Minnesota lawyers. This site also contains an archive of professional responsibility articles published in Bench & Bar and Minnesota Lawyer (searchable by rule and subject). There are more than 50 years of articles! And the website is finally mobile-friendly.
Complainants can file a complaint online and upload documents with the complaint form. For decades, complainants have been able to file complaints online in Minnesota (we were one of the early adopters of this functionality) but website limitations used to require complainants to mail or email supporting documents to the Office after the online complaint was filed. The complaint form now includes a more user-friendly interface, and we’ve added an FAQ section to answer both complainant and respondent questions related to filing complaints and the process that follows. Complaints, along with documentation, can be filed from a phone.
The website also includes several new or expanded sections. The discipline system and process in Minnesota are explained. There is a new section for the public with helpful tips for hiring a lawyer. The resources-for-the-public section has been expanded to link to government and nonprofit resources around the state to assist individuals with some of their legal issues. There is a calendar for professional responsibility events, including public hearing notices. If you have ever wanted to see a discipline or reinstatement hearing, or the related Supreme Court oral arguments, you can find those events on this calendar. And news releases will now be published on the website, something that was not done previously.
The site also contains a lot of resources to assist lawyers in their Minnesota practices, including information about the Office’s advisory opinion (hotline) service, trust account information, forms for professional firm registration, and much more. And new resource sections are in the works including new sections on reinstatements, succession planning, and trusteeships.
Finally, accessibility has been enhanced. Users can change the website language to Arabic, Hmong, Russian, Somali, or Spanish, greatly expanding language accessibility. Previously, only the complaint forms and instruction brochures were in additional languages. As the American Bar Association noted during its consultation in 2022, Minnesota is the only state that offers complaint forms in multiple languages and now much of the content of the website will also be offered in several languages. The website was designed to comply with the State of Minnesota’s Accessibility Standard, which is based on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (as amended) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA. (You may want to examine whether your website is accessible as well.) And there is an accessibility widget on the site that includes screen readers and other customizable navigational enhancements.
Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board
(lprb.mncourts.gov/)
This redesigned site is now focused on the Lawyers Board, which is separate from the OLPR. It contains new content specific to the Board’s role in attorney discipline and includes relevant rules, board opinions, board membership, annual reports, meeting materials, important dates, and other resources about the discipline system and process that make clear the Board’s separate but very important role within the attorney discipline and regulatory system. This website also includes information for the public on hiring an attorney and helpful links to resources to assist with finding a lawyer and navigating the courts as a self-represented litigant. It also offers news and announcements specific to the Board and directs users to the OLPR site where applicable. The creation of this website was one of the ABA recommendations from its discipline system consultation, and it will aid stakeholders in appreciating the relevant distinctions and connections between the two organizations.
Client Security Board
(csb.mncourts.gov/)
The Client Security Board administers a fund created by the Minnesota Supreme Court to reimburse victims of lawyer theft. The site has been refreshed, with two main improvements. First, claimants can submit claims online, an option not previously available. Second, a portal was created to pay the Client Security Board electronically so that lawyers who owe the fund money can make payments easily. We’ve also added an FAQ to explain the role of the Board, the purposes of the fund, and what is and is not payable from the fund. Since its creation in 1987, the Board has approved more than $8.8 million in compensation on claims against 211 Minnesota lawyers. The reimbursement fund is supported through previous allocations from annual registration fees, but currently no portion of your annual registration fee goes to the fund, as the Court has determined it is sufficiently funded to cover anticipated near-term claims. The Board, though not widely known, does great work considering claims where a lawyer has stolen client funds. Check out the new website to learn more.
The three sites were designed by Grossman Design Associates, a Minneapolis firm, and it was wonderful to partner with them on the work. If you have any feedback, please let me know. We want it to be easy for lawyers and legal consumers to find information about attorney discipline and ethics. We want the sites to work for all stakeholders.
Other news
You may have heard about a proposed Department of Justice rule relating to ethics complaints against DOJ attorneys. In March, the DOJ published a rule for comment proposing to give the United States Attorney General a right of “first review” of any ethics complaint against current or former DOJ attorneys; should the AG decide to investigate a complaint, requesting states would be asked to stay their own investigation in favor of the AG’s process. The rule would also provide that Justice Department lawyers may be prohibited from participating in state investigations during the AG’s review and authorize the AG to take necessary but undescribed actions should states decline to stay their investigations. The text of the proposed rule can be found on the Federal Register at www.federalregister.gov, Docket No. OAG199. You can also review the more than 1 million (!) comments submitted by numerous stakeholders during the 30-day comment period. The Lawyers Board submitted a comment, which is posted on the Lawyers Board website under news. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison led a multi-state coalition in filing a comment. That letter can be found online at the AG’s website.* The fact that so many individuals and entities took the time on short notice to comment highlights the importance of attorney regulation.
Conclusion
I hope you find the new websites useful. And, if you find the topic of attorney ethics and discipline interesting, remember that the district ethics committees and other parts of the lawyer regulation system are often seeking attorneys and public member volunteers. We’ve created a Volunteer Opportunities page on the OLPR website that provides more information—or feel free to email our volunteer coordinator at deccordinator@courts.state.mn.us.
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* https://ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/04/07_Federal-Attorneys.asp