Duties of the Ethics Committee

Every member of our Society is obligated to know and expected to follow the provisions of the Code of Ethics of the CDA

Pursuant to this obligation, the Ethics Committee will inform and educate our members regarding the tenets of the Code of Ethics. The Committee also will assist our members with ethical decisions and with advertising guidelines, restrictions, and requirements.

The Committee shall perform an annual review of members' advertisements in various media to determine if there may be possible violations of the Code of Ethics. These media shall include, but are not limited to, telephone directories, printed materials, television and radio announcements, and web sites.

The Committee shall notify any member of a possible violation of the Code of Ethics by letter. The Committee shall require the member to respond to the notification letter within 30 days stating that he/she will modify the advertisement(s) to conform with the Code of Ethics. If the member does not respond affirming his/her intention to modify the advertisement(s), the Committee will forward the case to the appropriate subcommittee of the Judicial Council of CDA for further review and possible disciplinary action.

The Committee shall also review the applications of prospective applicants to join our Society to insure that they are complete, that they contain no misrepresentations, and if the applicant advertises, that the advertisements meet the ethical guidelines. If any of the preceding criteria are not met, before the applicant is accepted to membership, a member of the Ethics Committee shall attempt to counsel the applicant to remedy the problem(s) with his/her application and/or advertisement. If this counseling is unsuccessful, the application and copies of all documents and correspondence will be forwarded to the appropriate subcommittee of the Judicial Council of CDA for review and dispensation of the application.