Before a grievance complaint is sent to a local panel for a determination of probable cause, the Statewide Bar Counsel, pursuant to Practice Book § 2-35, screens grievance complaints initially along several criteria set forth in that rule. One of the criteria is that the misconduct alleged in the grievance complaint took place more than six years before the filing of the grievance complaint.

Up until 2017, when the Connecticut Supreme Court decided Disciplinary Counsel v. Elder, the Statewide Bar Counsel considered that six year time limitation as discretionary, rather than mandatory. In the first Elder decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that that six-year time limitation was mandatory, and not discretionary. We applaud the Elder decision for bringing fairness and predictability to the attorney grievance process.