(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today announced the formation of a new Office of Professional Integrity focused on identifying and preventing potential conflicts of interest among legal staff.
The Office of Professional Integrity will be tasked with cataloging the work and external relationships of the approximately 400 attorneys in Yost’s office. Former Judge Charles Miller will lead the department. Miller previously served as a judge on the First District Court of Appeals and was a member of the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct.
“My goal is to create a transparent way to protect the integrity of our office, to make this type of review a regular and uniform process,” said Yost. “We will specifically do this at a high level with a highly-placed ‘eagle eye,’ further ensuring the professionalism of the work we do here for the people of Ohio.”
One of the department’s first tasks is to review the current processes for identifying, addressing and managing potential conflicts. In the past, this background information was disclosed when an attorney joined the office or upon occasional inquiries. The information has been maintained by the various sections of the office.
The Office of Professional Integrity will centralize the process using a searchable database, allowing for information disclosed by attorneys and executive staff to be regularly reviewed, cross-checked and verified. The information will include financial disclosures already utilized as well as additional material. The process is modeled after a system used by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Judge Miller will help us get to the next level of professional and ethical excellence – he’s not here to fix something that's wrong, but help us to be more deliberate, more purposeful as we do good,” Yost said. “He will serve our attorneys not only as an ethical guide but a wise counselor.”
Yost stressed that the creation of the new department is a proactive effort. Employees have been notified this week of Miller’s appointment and the start of his initial office-wide review.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127
–30–