Arizona joins state bar associations going after lawyers who challenge recent elections

The State Bar of Arizona has been pursuing disciplinary charges against attorneys, including State Rep. Alex Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, who have challenged election irregularities in 2020 and 2022. Kolodin recently accepted an agreement that allows him to keep his law license while serving probation for 18 months.

The Arizona Bar charged Kolodin with having violated several provisions in the Rules of Professional Conduct often used to disbar conservative attorneys, including one that prohibits attorneys from bringing “frivolous” lawsuits.  

His discipline is known as an “admonition,” and he will be required to pay the costs and expenses of the proceeding within 30 days and take certain Continuing Legal Education courses within 18 months, according to the Arizona Sun Times.  

The disciplinary agreement stated that among the aggravating factors found were “multiple offenses” and “substantial experience in the practice of law.” Kolodin has been a lawyer in Arizona for 10 years, though in previous bar disciplinary cases, according to the Sun Times, the Arizona Bar had often said that 10 years was “too inexperienced” when handing out discipline.

In one case, Bowyer v. Ducey, Kolodin represented plaintiffs who alleged “massive election fraud” “for the purpose of illegally and fraudulently manipulating the vote count to manufacture an election of Joe Biden … and down ballot democrat candidates.”

U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetawa, appointed by President Obama, granted the motion to dismiss in the case, declaring that if the relief sought was granted, “millions of Americans who exercised their individual right to vote in the 2020 General Election would be utterly disenfranchised.” Humetawa claimed the “allegations are sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence."

She dismissed all of the evidence, labeling it “gossip and innuendo,” and said the Republican county chairs Kolodin represented as plaintiffs lacked standing because they were not up for election.

State bar proceedings are taking place against multiple election attorneys around the country, many based on bar complaints filed by The 65 Project.

California's State Bar is going after former President Trump’s former attorney, John Eastman, seeking to disbar him for his work representing Trump in the 2020 election challenges. The District of Columbia Bar is seeking to disbar Trump’s Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clark for his role in the 2020 election challenges.