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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Law

Legal Ethics And The Separation Of Law And Morals, W. Bradley Wendel Nov 2005

Legal Ethics And The Separation Of Law And Morals, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This paper explores the jurisprudential question of the relationship between moral values and legal norms in legal advising and counseling in the context of an analysis of the so-called torture memos prepared by lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel in 2002. The principal claim of the paper is that the torture memos are morally bankrupt because they are legally bankrupt. The lawyers' actions were wrong from a moral point of view because the lawyers failed with respect to their obligation to treat the law with respect, not simply as an inconvenient obstacle to be planned around. The morality of …


Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Kate Kruse Jan 2005

Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Kate Kruse

Faculty Scholarship

The debate over whether it serves or undermines the interests of justice for lawyers to temper the zeal of their advocacy based on considerations of morality or justice has largely been polarized between two camps: traditionalists and moralists. Traditionalists defend the amoral role of lawyers, arguing that lawyers should remain moral neutral in their representation of clients. Moralists propose alternative social justice lawyering models, which urge lawyers' morally engagement in their choice of clients, their interpretation of law, and their counseling of clients.

This article revisits the debate by recasting the question at its center. Instead of inquiring what a …


Introduction -- 21st Century Law, Technology, And Ethics: The Lawyer's Role As A Public Citizen, Irma S. Russell Jan 2005

Introduction -- 21st Century Law, Technology, And Ethics: The Lawyer's Role As A Public Citizen, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Law Review Articles

The author addresses how modern developments in technology and the law bring with them the need for reassessment of the vision of the lawyer as a public citizen in this introduction to the University of Memphis Law Review issue on the symposium, 21st Century Law, Technology and Ethics: The Lawyer's Role as a Public Citizen.


Economic Rationality Vs. Ethical Reasonableness: The Relevance Of Law And Economics For Legal Ethics, W. Bradley Wendel Jan 2005

Economic Rationality Vs. Ethical Reasonableness: The Relevance Of Law And Economics For Legal Ethics, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Lawyers' Bargaining Ethics, Contract, And Collaboration: The End Of The Legal Profession And The Beginning Of Professional Pluralism, Scott R. Peppet Jan 2005

Lawyers' Bargaining Ethics, Contract, And Collaboration: The End Of The Legal Profession And The Beginning Of Professional Pluralism, Scott R. Peppet

Publications

This Article combines contractarian economics and traditional ethical theory to argue for a radical revision of the legal profession's codes of ethics. That revision would end the legal profession as we know it-one profession, regulated by one set of ethical rules that apply to all lawyers regardless of circumstance. It would replace the existing uniform conception of the lawyer's role with a more heterogeneous profession in which lawyers and clients could contractually choose the ethical obligations under which they wanted to operate. This "contract model" of legal ethics, in which lawyers could opt in and out of various ethical constraints, …


Lawyers As Upholders Of Human Dignity (When They Aren't Busy Assaulting It), David Luban Jan 2005

Lawyers As Upholders Of Human Dignity (When They Aren't Busy Assaulting It), David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

David Luban argues in this lecture that the moral foundation of the lawyer's profession lies in the defense of human dignity-and the chief moral danger facing the profession arises when lawyers assault human dignity rather than defend it. The concept of human dignity has a rich philosophical tradition, with some philosophers identifying human dignity as a metaphysical property of individuals-a property such as having a soul, or possessing autonomy. Luban argues instead that human dignity is a relational property of "the dignifier" and "the dignified," emphasizing that assaulting human dignity humiliates the victim. Lawyers honor the human dignity of others …


Religious Lawyering's Second Wave, Russell G. Pearce, Amelia J. Uelmen Jan 2005

Religious Lawyering's Second Wave, Russell G. Pearce, Amelia J. Uelmen

Faculty Scholarship

Since the mid-1990s, the "religious lawyering movement" has expanded dramatically, receiving greater attention within the academy and the bar. As the movement enters what we term its "second wave" of development, this essay begins with a look back to its "first wave" of path-breaking scholarship and its gradual shift toward more institutionalized structures and programs. It argues that the predominant characteristic of first-wave religious lawyering scholarship was to claim a space within the professional conversation for lawyers to bring religious values to bear on their work. The essay then predicts that in the second wave religious lawyering conversations and scholarship …


Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Katherine R. Kruse Jan 2005

Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

The debate over whether it serves or undermines the interests of justice for lawyers to temper the zeal of their advocacy based on considerations of morality or justice has largely been polarized between two camps: traditionalists and moralists. Traditionalists defend the amoral role of lawyers, arguing that lawyers should remain moral neutral in their representation of clients. Moralists propose alternative social justice lawyering models, which urge lawyers' morally engagement in their choice of clients, their interpretation of law, and their counseling of clients.

This article revisits the debate by recasting the question at its center. Instead of inquiring what a …


Conclusion: 'If You Don't Pull Up . . .'., James J. White Jan 2005

Conclusion: 'If You Don't Pull Up . . .'., James J. White

Other Publications

Today I am going to talk about a lawyer duty that is just as important as the duty to exercise warm zeal on behalf of a client, but it is a duty that is unknown to the popular culture and rarely touched on in law school. That is the duty to say no to your client, to step in front of a client who is determined to do something stupid, or in violation of the civil or criminal law.