Further to my post noting that Trump’s personal lawyer Marc E. Kasowitz appeared to be giving legal advice in a jurisdiction where he was not admitted to practice, I now learn that the Campaign for Accountability has filed a bar complaint against Kasowitz in DC; someone else filed a similar complaint in New York, where Kasowitz is admitted.
The Above the Law blog says “it’s unlikely this ends with Marc Kasowitz getting in ethical trouble” but I don’t see why not. I can see why this wouldn’t necessarily be a big violation, all things considered, so I would be shocked to see a major sanction like a suspension, but I’d also be somewhat surprised if there wasn’t at least a wrist slap somewhere.
Sanctions of any sort in this context would appear political in nature. With that in mind, I would imagine that a disciplinary board would look at this and think “go big or go home.” And since the violation isn’t a serious one, I would expect them to choose the “go home” option, i.e. no sanction of any kind.
I understand that, and you might be right. On the other hand, the advice given was so self-interested, and so much against the interest of the people being advised, that you have to wonder if the disciplinary bodies could afford to completely ignore the violations without making the rules appear to be no more than dead letters.