Communication in lawyer discipline records: what the data shows by state

The Illinois disciplinary commission publishes yearly figures on the grievances it receives. These are allegations, not proven violations, and they cover Illinois only.

• Complaints or discipline records, by state

  Illinois ARDC, 2025 Annual Report Highlights, 2025 (https://www.iardc.org/Files/AnnualReports/AnnualReport2025Highlights.pdf): 5,586 grievances were reported against 3,964 lawyers, which is 4% of the lawyers registered in Illinois.

• Complaints or discipline records, by state

  Illinois ARDC, 2025 Annual Report Highlights, 2025 (https://www.iardc.org/Files/AnnualReports/AnnualReport2025Highlights.pdf): neglect, incompetence and poor communication was 45% of the allegations, the largest category. Fees and billing were 8%. 50% of the complainants were clients or former clients.

• Complaints or discipline records, by state

  Illinois ARDC, 2022 Annual Report, 2022 (https://www.iardc.org/Files/AnnualReports/AnnualReport2022.pdf): 4,359 complaints were reported, and 68% stemmed from a breakdown of the lawyer-client relationship. Neglect was 26%. This is a historical figure with different categories.

Minnesota reports complaints and also private discipline, such as admonitions. These are sanctions, a step beyond an allegation, and they are counted differently from the Illinois figures.

• Complaints or discipline records, by state

  Minnesota OLPR and LPRB, 2026 Annual Report with data for 2025, 2026 (https://olpr.mncourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-LPRB-OLPR-Annual-Report.pdf): communication is the area that led to the most private discipline. The report counts 92 admonitions.

• Complaints or discipline records, by state

  Minnesota OLPR and LPRB, 2026 Annual Report with data for 2025, 2026 (https://olpr.mncourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-LPRB-OLPR-Annual-Report.pdf): 1,572 complaints were received in 2025, up 23% from 1,278 in 2024, the highest in 25 years.

• Reported by a news outlet

  Minnesota Lawyer, 2026 (https://minnlawyer.com/2026/07/07/minnesota-attorney-discipline-complaints-2025-olpr/): the newspaper reported that 69% of private sanctions involved a lack of communication. This figure appears in the press report and not in the annual report we cite.

The Florida Bar reports its main complaint categories in its newspaper. Communication appears among them, but the article gives no share.

• Reported by the source

  The Florida Bar News, 2024 (https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/2024-florida-bar-discipline-trends-communication-trust-accounting-and-justice-interference-top-complaints/): inadequate communication is among the top 10 complaint categories. The article gives no percentage.

The categories are different in each state, so the figures cannot be added or compared. Some are complaints and some are sanctions.

They describe three states and do not describe the country. We do not link them to what a firm would gain by changing how it communicates.

• Decide who tells the client what is happening in each matter
• Agree with the client how and how often they will hear from the firm
• Record each client message and reply in the case record
• Set a reminder for matters where nothing has happened for a while