I saw an interesting ethics decision out of Kentucky the other day involving an attempt to buy silence in a grievance case. The case was called Kentucky Bar Association vs. Unnamed Attorney. (There are a lot of unnamed attorney cases in Kentucky. This one was Dec. 19, 2013. You can find it on the Google.)
The case dealt with the settlement of a case against an attorney in a fee dispute case. During the pendency of the dispute, as often happens, a grievance was filed by the client. When the lawyer representing the lawyer settled the underlying matter, he (or she) required the client to sign an agreement agreeing to withdraw the bar complaint and to refrain from cooperating with or providing information to the Kentucky disciplinary authorities.
