Three women filed a petition with a single justice of the SJC seeking an order requiring the Board of Bar Oversees (BBO) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against certain attorneys.
The petition (for a writ of certiorari) was filed pursuant to G.L. c. 249, Section 4.
The BBO’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the petition. Their motion to dismiss was allowed by the single justice.
The women appealed the dismissal.
Today, in a brief 2-page opinion, the SJC affirmed the single justice’s decision to dismiss the petition.
There is no private right to commence a court action to seek disciplinary action against an attorney…Consequently, the petitioners lacked standing, and the single justice did not err or abuse his discretion in dismissing their petition.
The SJC declined to award attorney’s fees to the BBO defendants.
The full text of the opinion is attached below.