Examiner.com reports that in Maryland, discipline numbers are small and decreasing, while legal malpractice cases are increasing.

"The vast majority of Maryland lawyers never get into trouble.

In fact, the number of lawyers sanctioned by the state has fallen in the past 10 years, with the biggest drop happening in the latest fiscal year — when only 57 of the state’s 33,018 lawyers were disciplined by being disbarred, suspended or reprimanded.

Data and reports from Maryland’s disciplinary agency, the Attorney Grievance Commission, show that less than a quarter of all complaints are investigated, nearly half of those investigated complaints are “closed administratively” and about a third of the remaining receive some kind of discipline.

What the data do not show is any information on cases dismissed by the commission, with or without an investigation. All complaints are considered private and confidential unless the commission brings charges against an attorney. All charges are public. .

While lawyer punishments are declining, the number of attorney malpractice lawsuits, in which lawyers are sued, is increasing at the same rate as the expansion of the bar, said Dave Whitworth, a Crofton attorney who has practiced for 30 years.

The number of people who want to sue their lawyers has increased, said Stacie Dubnow, a legal malpractice attorney from Hunt Valley. But she has not seen an increase in the number of cases that merit a lawsuit.