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Last week the bar judge asked the parties to submit briefing on the question of whether A.R.S. § 12-751 was constitutional: Order.

The judge gave us until May 21, 2026 to respond. As usual, I moved a bit quicker: Gingras Response to MTD Question.

I know this stuff is probably a bit dry. My eyes feel dry after looking at this for hours.

The basic idea is that as a general rule, the Arizona Supreme Court is responsible for making procedural rules that control how cases are resolved. Font colors, page limits, those sorts of things.

And most of the time, the AZ Supreme Court creates those procedurals rules without much fanfare. Most of the time, only the Supreme Court handles rule changes.

But not always. The Arizona Legislature (the AZ Senate and the House of Representatives) is the primary body responsible for writing laws in this state. And boy, do we have a lot of laws. The speed limit on Arizona’s roads is a law written by our Legislature. The law against digging up cacti (A.R.S. § 3-906). I could go on forever. We have lots of laws. Not as many as California, but still a lot.

But here’s the thing — although the Arizona Supreme Court is the primary body responsible for making procedural rules, it is not the exclusive source of all rules, and it is basically never allowed to create new substantive laws. The Legislature can (and frequently does) adopt laws which affect procedural matters in court, and the Legislature is the exclusive authority for creating new substantive laws.

So what happens if the Legislature creates a new law that impacts how a case proceeds in court. Is that illegal? Absolutely not. If you care to understand why, read my pleading. I think we explained this fairly well. It’s dry, but understandable.

Does this mean the PDJ will agree? Honestly, I would be surprised if she doesn’t agree with me. The issue is THAT simple and the law is THAT clear.

The Arizona Legislature passed a law that gives me the right to have groundless bar charges dismissed promptly. In fact, even if the charges aren’t groundless, I can still have them dismissed if the Bar isn’t applying the rules evenly to everyone.

I understand the bar may not like that law, but so what? The law is the law, and we are all required to follow the law.

Even the Presiding Disciplinary Judge.