Excerpt from letter of April 30, 1985 to Washington State Supreme Court
by Lawyer Robert B. Gould, of the Seattle law firm
of Gould, Russo, Eitreim & Barrett,
commenting on the Court's proposed draft for adoption
of the 1983 ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
with various changes requested by the Washington State Bar Association.
[The Court rejected Lawyer Gould's suggestion.]

[Note: The underlining is Lawyer Gould's; the italics and bolding are added here for emphasis.  Gould's item 10 is about ABA Model Rule 8.3, that addresses lawyer reporting of corruption and lesser misconduct by other lawyers and judges.]

        (10)  8.3(a)(b) - The ABA version states that "A lawyer ... shall inform the ..."  The proposed Washington rule says "should inform".  I believe that this is a grievous mistake.  Lawyers are professionals.  Our constituents are not our brothers and sisters at the Bar but, rather, the consuming public.  The consuming public has long thought of us as an "old boy" network.  I believe that there is some truth to this.  As long as the Washington State Supreme Court is going to allow the Bar Association the right to police itself, it should make sure that said right is coupled with the clear obligation to ensure that self discipline is pursued vigorously and diligently.  One small change of the word "shall" to "should" will emasculate that obligation and ultimately destroy the profession's right to self discipline.  No one likes to act as a "tattletale" on fellow professionals, but who better than other lawyers to understand the ethical requirements and the standard of care to which we are held?  If not us, then who?  I would strongly urge the Washington State Supreme Court to change the word from should to shall.