Fair notice for lawyer discipline
Mike Singh Sethi v. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Mike Singh Sethi challenges attorney discipline in the Ninth Circuit.
- Who it affects
- The denial ends Sethi’s request for Supreme Court review; the Court did not rule on his objections to the discipline.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
His petition asks whether the court could suspend him based on alleged violations omitted from a supplemental charge without giving him a chance to defend against them, or for violating a citation rule requiring him to identify the technology used to correct inaccurate citations when that rule was announced only in the final disciplinary decision.
Sethi challenged the Ninth Circuit’s attorney-discipline process, including suspension based on alleged violations he says were not charged and a requirement to disclose the technology used to correct citations.
Question presented
1. Whether the Fifth Amendment and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 46 permit a court of appeals to suspend an attorney based materially on alleged violations that were not identified in a supplemental disciplinary charge and the attorney was never afforded an opportunity to defend against them as charges. 2. Whether Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 47(b) permits a court of appeals to suspend an attorney for violating a specific requirement—announced in the final disciplinary decision—that an attorney correcting inaccurate citations must disclose the citations’ technological source, where that requirement was not previously contained in federal law, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the circuit’s local rules, or an actual-notice order in the case.
Documents
Docket activity
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AI analysis generated: Decision Record
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Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.