How to Complete and File the State Bar of Texas Grievance Form

The State Bar of Texas grievance form is the free complaint you file with the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel when you believe a Texas-licensed attorney has violated the state’s professional conduct rules. You can submit it online at sbotservices.texasbar.com, by mail, or by fax, and there is no filing fee. The Bar then classifies your submission, decides whether it describes a rule violation, and moves forward from there.¹

What a Grievance Can and Cannot Address

Grievances address violations of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct: neglecting a case, mishandling client money, lying to a court, failing to communicate about important developments, and similar ethical breaches.

Two common problems fall outside the process. The Bar states that the grievance system cannot intervene in or resolve general disputes over the amount charged for legal services; a separate fee dispute resolution program handles those.² Disagreements over legal strategy or an unfavorable outcome are also not grounds for discipline. The question is whether the attorney broke an ethical rule, not whether you won.

The Four-Year Filing Deadline

Under Rule 17.06 of the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, no attorney can be disciplined for misconduct that occurred more than four years before the grievance reaches the Chief Disciplinary Counsel.³

Two exceptions apply. If the attorney concealed the misconduct through fraud, the clock does not start until you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, what happened. Cases involving felony convictions and certain other grounds that trigger compulsory discipline are not bound by the four-year limit.³

If the conduct you’re worried about is approaching that four-year mark, file now and supplement later. Do not hold the form back to keep gathering documents.

Information and Documents to Gather First

You’ll need the attorney’s full legal name and State Bar of Texas card number. Look up the card number using the attorney search at texasbar.com; it prevents confusion when names are similar.

Write a clear, chronological account of what happened: when you hired the attorney, what they agreed to do, what went wrong, and when. Include specific dates and the names of everyone involved. This narrative goes into the statement-of-facts section, and a disorganized timeline is the fastest way to weaken your grievance.

Pull together your supporting evidence before you open the form. Useful documents include:

The fee agreement or retainer contract showing what the attorney promised and what you agreed to pay.
Financial records such as bank statements, cleared checks, credit card receipts, or transfer confirmations proving what you paid.
Correspondence with the attorney, including emails, texts, and letters, or evidence that the attorney stopped responding.
Court documents such as orders, motions, transcripts, or docket entries that speak to the attorney’s performance.

Send copies only. The Bar does not return originals.¹ For mailed submissions, skip staples, post-it notes, and binding.

Redact Third-Party Personal Information Before You Submit

This trips people up. Before you send anything, redact personal identifying information belonging to anyone other than you or the attorney: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, and similar data. Do not include medical records or protected health information belonging to other people. A submission that contains unredacted third-party personal information or another person’s protected health records will be returned to you without consideration.⁴

A copy of your grievance will also be forwarded to the attorney you’re filing against.⁴ Factor that in when you decide how much of your own personal detail to include.

Filling Out the Grievance Form

The form is available in English and Spanish. You can complete it directly in the online portal at sbotservices.texasbar.com or download the PDF and fill it out by hand.¹ If you can’t access it online, call (866) 224-5999 and the Bar will mail a blank copy.⁵

The form asks for the attorney’s name, Bar card number, address, and phone number, followed by your own contact information. The main section is the statement of facts, where you describe the misconduct in your own words. If you run out of space, attach additional pages. Reference your exhibits inside the narrative so the reviewer can follow along, for example, “See attached email dated March 12, 2025.”

Sign and date the form. Old versions or forms missing required information are automatically rejected and returned.¹ Handwritten entries need to be legible.

How to Submit

There is no filing fee, and you have three ways to send it in:

Online through the portal at sbotservices.texasbar.com. Upload the signed form and your supporting documents as PDFs. This is the fastest route because it removes mail transit time.⁶
By mail to the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, P.O. Box 12487, Austin, Texas 78711. Use a mailing method with tracking so you have proof of delivery.¹
By fax to the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel.⁵

Keep a complete copy of everything you send.

What Happens After You File

Under Rule 2.10 of the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, a staff attorney reviews your submission within 30 days and classifies it as either an Inquiry or a Complaint.³

If the allegations, taken as true, would not violate a disciplinary rule, the grievance is classified as an Inquiry and dismissed. You and the attorney both receive written notice. You have 30 days from the date of that notice to appeal the dismissal to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals.³ Watch that deadline; a meaningful share of grievances end here, and the appeal is your second look.

If the allegations do suggest a rule violation, the grievance is classified as a Complaint. The attorney is served a copy and has 30 days to respond in writing, with a copy of the response going to both the Chief Disciplinary Counsel and to you. From there, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel investigates. Depending on the strength of the evidence, the case can be dismissed by a Summary Disposition Panel, or, if just cause is found, proceed to an Evidentiary Panel of the local grievance committee or to district court, at the attorney’s election.³

If misconduct is found, sanctions defined by the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure range from private reprimand through public reprimand, probated suspension, suspension, resignation in lieu of discipline, and disbarment. The attorney can also be ordered to pay restitution to you and to reimburse the costs of the proceedings.³

If You Lost Money: The Client Security Fund

If the attorney stole your money or failed to refund fees they didn’t earn, the State Bar’s Client Security Fund may reimburse part or all of your loss. To qualify, you generally have to file a grievance first and get a finding that the attorney took client funds or kept an unearned fee. An exception applies if the attorney is already disbarred, has resigned in lieu of discipline, or is deceased.⁷

The Fund has its own deadline: 18 months from the date of the disciplinary judgment against the attorney.⁷ You can submit the application through the same portal used for grievances at sbotservices.texasbar.com.⁶ The Fund covers dishonesty and unearned fees. It does not compensate for poor legal outcomes or malpractice, which would require a separate civil lawsuit.

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State Bar of Texas. File a Grievance
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State Bar of Texas. Resolving Fee Disagreements
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Texas Courts. Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure
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State Bar of Texas. Grievance Complaint
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Texas Law Help. Attorney Complaint Information
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Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel | State Bar of Texas. Online Grievance/Client Security Fund Portal
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State Bar of Texas. Client Security Fund