Digital Commons Network^™

Leveling Felony Charges For Withholding Evidence, Jodi Nagzger

Jodi Nafzger

This Article addresses the intersection of the rule of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8. Brady requires prosecutors to automatically disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the government’s possession to the defense. ABA Model Rule 3.8 requires a prosecutor in a criminal case “to make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense.” The ABA issued a formal opinion in 2009 which concluded that the prosecutor’s ethical duty under 3.8 is broader in …

Organizations As Evil Structures, Cary Federman, Dave Holmes

Cary Federman

Nursing practice in forensic psychiatry opens new horizons in nursing. This complex, professional, nursing practice involves the coupling of two contradictory socioprofessional mandates: to punish and to provide care. The purpose of this chapter is to present nursing practice in a disciplinary setting as a problem of governance. A Foucauldian perspective allows us to understand the way forensic psychiatric nursing is involved in the governance of mentally ill criminals through a vast array of power techniques (sovereign, disciplinary, and pastoral), which posit nurses as “subjects of power.” These nurses are also “objects of power” in that nursing practice is constrained …

Dispute Resolution Neutrals' Ethical Obligation To Support Measured Transparency, Nancy A. Welsh

Nancy Welsh

In 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued proposed rules that would have brought substantial transparency to mandatory pre-dispute consumer arbitration. In particular, the CFPB proposed to require regulated providers of financial products and services to report to the CFPB regarding their use and the outcomes of arbitrations conducted pursuant to arbitration clauses, and further, the CFPB proposed to make such information public (with appropriate redactions). Although Congress and the President ultimately annulled the CFPB’s proposed rule, its introduction revealed the need for dispute resolution neutrals to support bringing “measured transparency” to private dispute resolution. To place the CFPB’s …

Unauthorized Legal Practice Prosecutions And Independent Paralegals In Ontario And The United States, John A. Flood, Frederick H. Zemans

Frederick H. Zemans

The issue of unauthorized legal practice involves questions of professionalism and market protection. The legal profession, like other professions, is seen a being particularly successful at excluding others from its area of jurisdiction. Disputes over jurisdiction occur at the edge of this jurisdiction, specifically when certain condition arise. The e conditions are characterized by the "indetermination/ technicality (I/T) ratio", where "I" represents the ideological underpinning of the profession and "T" represents the technical knowledge. "If either the knowledge base or the ideological underpinning deteriorates, the occupation will lose control over its spheres of activity....For an occupation or a profession to …

International Developments And Their Impact On U.S. Lawyer Regulation, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Anti-Money Laundering (Aml) Legal Profession Related Resources (Updated March 2019), Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Resources And Urls Related To Aba Model Rule Of Professional Conduct 5.4 (Originally Prepared For The May 2019 Aba Cpr Conference In Vancouver), Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

• Rule 5.4
• Rule 5.4 State variations chart
• Rationale for Rule 5.4
• State Versions of Rule 5.4 that Differ From/Supplement ABA Model Rule 5.4:
• Jurisdictions that Currently Are Considering Rule 5.4 Issues (Arizona, California, Utah)
• U.S. Groups That …

Examples Of Regulatory Objectives For The Legal Profession (Updated March 2, 2019), Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Iclr 2019 Conference Handout: Resources Related To "Outside The Law Office: Where Do The Boundaries Of Regulation Lie?", Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

When Should The First Amendment Protect Judges From Their Unethical Speech?, Lynne H. Rambo

Lynne H. Rambo

Judges harm the judicial institution when they engage in inflammatory or overtly political extrajudicial speech. The judiciary can be effective only when it has the trust of the citizenry, and judicial statements of that sort render it impossible for citizens to see judges as neutral and contemplative arbiters. This lack of confidence would seem especially dangerous in times like these, when the citizenry is as polarized as it has ever been.

Ethical codes across the country (based on the Model Code of Judicial Conduct) prohibit judges from making these partisan, prejudicial or otherwise improper remarks. Any discipline can be undone, …

Advising Clients After Critical Legal Studies And The Torture Memos, Milan Markovic

Milan Markovic

No abstract provided.

Designing And Improving A System Of Proactive Management-Based Regulation To Help Lawyers And Protect The Public, Susan Saab Fortney

Susan S. Fortney

Increasingly, lawyers and decision-makers are recognizing the limitations and consequences of current approaches to attorney regulation. Inspired by developments in other countries, regulators in the United States and Canada have started the process of exploring innovative approaches, including proactive management-based regulation. The term, proactive-management regulation (PMBR), was first used by Professor Ted Schneyer to refer to a regulatory approach designed to promote ethical law practice by assisting lawyers with practice management.

The seed for PMBR was first planted in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It grew out of the legislation that allowed limited liability and non-lawyer ownership …

Musings On Mediation, Kleenex, And (Smudged) White Hats, Nancy A. Welsh

Nancy Welsh

This Essay speculates on the global future of mediation. It anticipates that mediation’s popularity will continue to grow both in the U.S. and abroad particularly as courts continue to encourage and institutionalize the process. Meanwhile, the Essay acknowledges the existence and continuing development of a relatively small cadre of elite lawyers and retired judges who serve as private mediators in large, complex matters.

The Essay also raises concerns, though, regarding the current lack of clarity in the goals and procedural characteristics that define mediation. The Essay asserts that such lack of clarity invites abuse of the mediation privilege and exclusionary …

Integrating "Alternative" Dispute Resolution Into Bankruptcy: As Simple (And Pure) As Motherhood And Apple Pie?, Nancy A. Welsh

Nancy Welsh

Today, there can be little doubt that “alternative” dispute resolution is anything but alternative. Nonetheless, many judges, lawyers (and law students) do not truly understand the dispute resolution processes that are available and how they should be used. In the shadow of the current economic crisis, this lack of knowledge is likely to have negative consequences, particularly in those areas of practice such as bankruptcy and foreclosure in which clients, lawyers, regulators, and courts work under pressure, often with inadequate time and financial resources to permit careful analysis of procedural options. Potential negative effects can include: (1) impairment of a …

High Court Pretense, Lower Court Candor: Judicial Impartiality After Capterton V. Massey Coal Co., Lynne H. Rambo

Lynne H. Rambo

Apolitical, impartial judging has always been our judicial ideal. In the last twenty years, however, special interest groups have sought power over (and through) judges by pouring millions into judicial elections, and the Court has recognized their first amendment right to do so. In the midst of this politicization of judicial elections, the Court five years ago reinforced the impartiality ideal, holding very broadly in Caperton v. Massey Coal Co. that it violates due process for a judge to sit whenever there is a “probability of bias,” i.e., whenever the average judge is unlikely to be neutral. Caperton involved a …

Virtuous Billing, Randy D. Gordon, Nancy B. Rapoport

Randy D. Gordon

Aristotle tells us, in his Nicomachean Ethics, that we become ethical by building good habits and we become unethical by building bad habits: “excellence of character results from habit, whence it has acquired its name (êthikê) by a slight modification of the word ethos (habit).” Excellence of character comes from following the right habits. Thinking of ethics as habit-forming may sound unusual to the modern mind, but not to Aristotle or the medieval thinkers who grew up in his long shadow. “Habit” in Greek is “ethos,” from which we get our modern word, “ethical.” In Latin, habits are moralis, which …

Attorneys' Malpractice Policies: Regulatory Exclusions And Public Policy, Susan Saab Fortney

Susan S. Fortney

The courts have yet to decide the issue of the enforceability of provisions in legal malpractice insurance policies that specifically exclude from coverage claims made by government regulators such as the FDIC. The question has reached the courts with respect to such exclusionary provisions in directors' and officers' liability insurance policies, and here the courts are split. The author discusses the current case law and the statutory developments.

Foreword: Legal Malpractice Is No Longer The Profession's Dirty Little Secret, Susan Saab Fortney

Susan S. Fortney

In 1994, Professor Manuel R. Ramos published a law review article called, Legal Malpractice: The Profession's Dirty Little Secret. As suggested by the title, Professor Ramos argued that legal malpractice was a "taboo subject" that has been "ignored by the legal profession, law schools, mandatory continuing legal education ("CLE") programs, and even by scholarly and lay publications." Thirty years later, legal malpractice is an ever-present threat that lawyers cannot afford to ignore.

Us State Implementation Of 5 Methods Of Foreign Lawyer Practice In The United States, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Corporate Ethics: Approaches And Implications To Expanding The Corporate Mindset Of Profitability, 49 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 637 (2018), Arthur Acevedo

Arthur Acevedo

This Article discusses the convergence of law and ethics in the context of corporations. It begins by detailing past attempts at and limitations on regulating corporate conduct. It then explores the business judgment rule in the context of ethical conduct. Finally, it considers the growing influence of millennials and social investing on corporate conduct, and concludes by cautioning corporate directors to adopt ethical practices in order to remain relevant in the marketplace.

Professionalism And Ethics Section Takes Its Turn, Jodi Nafzger

Jodi Nafzger

Membership in [the Professionalism and Ethics Section of the Idaho State Bar] provides Idaho attorneys an opportunity to work closely with colleagues who share a vision for a profession that embodies personal courtesy and professional and ethical integrity. We are fortunate to practice law in a state that values this vision, and we invite you to attend our CLEs [Continuing Legal Education] and join our membership. [excerpt]

Poverty, The Great Unequalizer: Improving The Delivery System For Civil Legal Aid, Latonia Haney Keith

Latonia Haney Keith

Civil justice issues in the United States bring with them no guarantee of legal counsel, yet the civil legal system is still designed to require an attorney in almost all situations. Given the ever-growing costs of legal representation, how then are the legal needs of the poor met? The author calls this phenomenon the “justice gap” and addresses the issue of an access to justice gap and proposes a potential solution.

This article examines the existence of the “justice gap,” wherein the poor face substantial barriers that hinder them from receiving the same legal protections as wealthier Americans. It goes …

The Relevance Of Fatf’S Recommendations And Fourth Round Of Mutual Evaluations To The Legal Profession, Laurel S. Terry, José Carlos Llerena Robles

Laurel S. Terry

Lawyer Regulation, Aml, And Fatf's Mutual Evaluations, Laurel S. Terry, José Carlos Llerena Robles

Laurel S. Terry

Is It Time For Real Reform: Nysba's 20 Years Of Examining The Bar Exam, Mary A. Lynch, Kim Diana Connolly

Kim Diana Connolly

No abstract provided.

Coming To Grips With The Ethical Challenges For Capital Post-Conviction Representation Posed By Martinez V. Ryan, John H. Blume, W. Bradley Wendel

W. Bradley Wendel

In its groundbreaking decision in Martinez v. Ryan, 556 U.S. 1 (2012), the Supreme Court of the United States held that inadequate assistance of post-conviction counsel could be sufficient “cause” to excuse a procedural default thus allowing a federal court in habeas corpus proceedings to reach the merits of an otherwise barred claim that an inmate was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial. The upshot of Martinez is that, if state postconviction counsel unreasonably (and prejudicially) fails to raise a viable claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, then there is “cause” …

How Corporate Governance Is Made: The Case Of The Golden Leash, Sean J. Griffith, Matthew D. Cain Ph.D., Jill E. Fisch, Steven D. Solomon

Steven Davidoff Solomon

This Article presents a case study of a corporate governance innovation — the incentive compensation arrangement for activist-nominated director candidates colloquially known as the “golden leash.” Golden leash compensation arrangements are a potentially valuable tool for activist shareholders in election contests. In response to their use, several issuers adopted bylaw provisions banning incentive compensation arrangements. Investors, in turn, viewed director adoption of golden leash bylaws as problematic and successfully pressured issuers to repeal them. The study demonstrates how corporate governance provisions are developed and deployed, the sequential response of issuers and investors, and the central role played by governance intermediaries …

Sports And Entertainment Agents And Agent-Attorneys: Discourses And Conventions Concerning Crossing Jurisdictional And Professional Borders, David S. Caudill

David S Caudill

Questions regarding the ethical obligations, pitfalls, and dilemmas facing attorneys who become sports or entertainment agents are not new. However, despite a substantial discourse on the topic, the sense persists that being both a lawyer and an agent is problematic. The applicable laws, including ethical regulations, seem to be clear, but are subject not only to law‟s usual jurisdictional variations and interpretive instability, but also to the mediation of conventions or tacit understandings that pervade the sports and entertainment industries.

Lawyer Discipline In An Authoritarian Regime: Empirical Insights From Zhejiang Province, China, Judith A. Mcmorrow, Benjamin Van Rooij, Sida Liu

Judith A. McMorrow

On paper the state-run lawyer disciplinary system in China serves multiple interests: client protection, maintaining the reputation of the legal profession, upholding the rule of law, and safeguarding the party-state authority. This Article assesses which of these interests dominates in the lawyer disciplinary process by analyzing 122 published lawyer discipline cases from Zhejiang Province from 2007-2015. These records of lawyer discipline evidence an authoritarian political logic of attorney discipline, with punishment most clearly serving to safeguard the Communist Party's rule by keeping lawyers in bounds and tightly tied to their law firms. Subordinate to this are other state interests such …

Gender As A Variable In Natural-Language Processing: Ethical Considerations, Brian N. Larson

Brian Larson

Researchers and practitioners in naturallanguage processing (NLP) and related fields should attend to ethical principles in study design, ascription of categories/variables to study participants, and reporting of findings or results. This paper discusses theoretical and ethical frameworks for using gender as a variable in NLP studies and proposes four guidelines for researchers and practitioners. The principles outlined here should guide practitioners, researchers, and peer reviewers, and they may be applicable to other social categories, such as race, applied to human beings connected to NLP research.