Lawyers have a limited duty to self-report ethics violations in Oklahoma. In the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct there is no explicit duty to self-report violations of the ethics rules. ORPC 8.3 (a) provides:

A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

Section (c) of 8.3 excepts confidential information from mandatory disclosure. Section (d) exempts information learned by lawyers working as ethics counsel, an agent of a lawyers or judges assistance program, or the OBA Management Assistance Program. Section (d) provides further:

Any such knowledge or evidence received by lawyers acting in such capacity shall enjoy the same confidence as information protected by the attorney-client privilege under applicable rule and Rule 1.6.

Rule 7.7 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Hearings contains the only explicit self-reporting provision for Oklahoma lawyers. Rule 7.7 (a) states:

It is the duty of a lawyer licensed in Oklahoma to notify the General Counsel whenever discipline for lawyer misconduct has been imposed upon him/her in another jurisdiction, within twenty (20) days of the final order of discipline, and failure to report shall itself be grounds for discipline.

In State Ex Rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Reedy, 2023 OK 99, the court found an implicit duty to self-report in certain instances. The court found a lawyer has an implicit duty to self-report a criminal conviction, at least to the extent the conviction has been previously determined to demonstrate an unfitness to practice law. The court found, “[T]o discover which types of convictions have been previously determined to demonstrate an unfitness to practice law, a lawyer need only look at our prior disciplinary cases for examples.”