Law Commons^™

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022. The Article discusses developments with respect to attorney discipline, bar admission, malpractice and other civil claims, ineffective assistance of counsel, disqualification of counsel, contempt, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial conduct, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and formal advisory opinions of the State Bar of Georgia Formal Advisory Opinion Board.

Law Is Not Enough, Neil S. Siegel

Ohio Northern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Chief Justice Mogoeng V Africa4palestine And Others [2021] Jsc/819/20; Jsc/825/20; And Jsc/ 826/20, Dunia P. Zongwe

SAIPAR Case Review

This is a judgment against the first judge among his peers: the Chief Justice. Handed down by the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) of South Africa’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC), this judgment involves the remarks made in 2020 by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at a webinar hosted by a pro-Israel, conservative, Zionist newspaper. During that webinar, Mogoeng criticized the South African government’s official policy on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Following Mogoeng’s faux pas and a loud public outcry, three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) lodged complaints with the JCC against Mogoeng for his Israel comments.

This appeal judgment largely confirms the JCC’s earlier complaint …

Law School Rankings And The Impossibility Of Anti-Racism, Rory D. Bahadur

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article uses the U.S. News law school rankings to illustrate how powerful, invisible, and stubborn systemic racism is. This Article does not level allegations of intentionally blameworthy conduct at U.S. News, or any person or entity. More broadly, this Article does not address conscious and deliberate racism, or the examples of this type of racism with which America’s history is replete. Nor is this Article attempting to undervalue the significant impact of deliberately racist actions in American history on the economic disparity between white people and people of color.

Instead, I make an untrue assumption: All Americans of every …

Choices: The Many Routes To Justice And Peace With Dispute Resolution, Ethics, And Feminism, Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Texas A&M Law Review

As Yogi Berra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road. . . . take it[!]” Our lives present us all with choices—personal and professional. My professional life has been filled with efforts to create more choices of process and ethical and political commitments to seek a more just world. I began as a poverty and civil rights lawyer and sought effective and creative ways to solve problems, notably when court-based solutions were too “brittle” and binary and did not solve the underlying problem. I have looked at legal problem solving through the lens of interdisciplinary approaches …

Wishing To Be Part Of That Court: How The Supreme Court's Decision In Bp P.L.C. V. Mayor Of Baltimore Lets Energy Companies Wander Free And Drown The Shore Up Above, Natalie Poirier

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Public Client Contingency Fee Contracts As Obligation, Seth Mayer

Michigan Law Review

Contingency fee contracts predicate an attorney’s compensation on the outcome of a case. Such contracts are widely accepted when used in civil litigation by private plaintiffs who might not otherwise be able to afford legal representation. However, such arrangements are controversial when government plaintiffs like attorneys general and local governments retain private lawyers to litigate on behalf of the public in return for a percentage of any recovery from the lawsuit. Some commentators praise such public client contingency fee contracts, which have become commonplace, as an efficient way to achieve justice. Critics, however, view them as corrupt, undemocratic, and unethical. …

The Dark Side Of Due Process: Part Ii, Why Penumbral Rights And Cost/Benefit Balancing Tests Are Bad, Joshua J. Schroeder

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Marijuana Legalization: Child-Centered Considerations In Texas Family Law Matters, Julie Whitson

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Deep South’S Constitutional Con, Lynn Uzzell

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Inter-Circuit Judicial Splits Surrounding The Class Action Fairness Act’S “Local Single Event” Exception—A Proposal To Resolve The Confusion, Odalys Vielma

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hermeneutics For Legal Research And Analysis, Konstantin G. Vertsman

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Can Affordable Homes Be Healthy? Legal Strategy, Socio-Legal Studies And Activism In Indonesia, Santy Kouwagam

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

This article uses two Constitutional Court decisions in Indonesia to exemplify the importance of analysing legal strategies. These decisions declared a rule barring developers from building and selling tiny houses to be unconstitutional and invalid. The article shows that ‘justice’ in legal procedures still needs further definition, and that judges’ elaboration of decisions and their legal reasoning still needs improvement. The article will first discuss the cases, using Legal Strategy analysis. It will then highlight problems with the commoditisation of houses. Finally, it will argue that the problem of unhealthy and unaffordable housing in Indonesia can be resolved, by bringing …

The Rise Of Environmental, Social And Corporate Governance Disclosures In The United States And Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence In Europe: Implications For U.S. Lawyers, Marie-Claude Jean-Baptiste

Global Business Law Review

Over the past decade, due in part to the devastating impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 and growing awareness of climate change, the world witnessed increasing interest on the part of society in general, and investors in particular, for responsible business. “Responsible business” is the concept that business should be conducted in a way that 1) does not violate fundamental rights of the people affected by the business activity; 2) does not exacerbate environmental harm; and 3) complies with basic principles of good governance. Society’s interest in responsible business has been reflected in growing pressure on businesses to …

Florida’S Judicial Ethics Rules: History, Text, And Use, Robert M. Jarvis

University of Miami Law Review

A handy summary of Florida’s federal and state judicial ethics codes does not exist. As a result, Florida attorneys and judges often must invest considerable time and effort when a question of judicial ethics arises. To assist such queries, this article provides a comprehensive description of both the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct and the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.

Lawyers As Caregivers, Paula Schaefer

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article argues that clients—much like patients in a healthcare setting—need their lawyers to be caregivers. The Article opens by developing a definition of caregiving in medicine and law. It then turns to five key components of caregiving in medicine, explaining the substantial research that this care is crucial for patient satisfaction, trust, and healing. Medical educators have drawn on this research to better prepare medical professionals to be excellent caregivers. The Article then explores the evidence that an attorney’s clients have the same needs and suffer similar harm when attorneys fail to meet these needs. Next, the Article turns …

Daubert/Kumho Tire And The Legal Malpractice Expert Witness, Warren R. Trazenfeld, Robert M. Jarvis

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

In legal malpractice cases, parties almost always end up using expert witnesses. Whether a particular legal malpractice expert is qualified to testify often is a hotly contested issue. In this Article, the authors provide recommendations for how to qualify a legal malpractice expert and how to challenge a legal malpractice expert’s qualifications.

Judged By The (Digital) Company You Keep: Maintaining Judicial Ethics In An Age Of Likes, Shares, And Follows, John Browning

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Just like lawyers, judicial use of social media can present ethical pitfalls. And while most scholarly attention has focused on either active social media conduct by judges (such as posting or tweeting) or on social media “friendships” between judges and others, this Article analyses the ethical dimensions of seemingly benign judicial conduct on social media platforms, such as following a third party or “liking,” sharing, or retweeting the online posts of others. Using real-world examples, this Article analyses how even such ostensibly benign conduct can create the appearance of impropriety and undermine public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of …

Patients, Corporate Attorneys, And Moral Obligations, Ioan-Radu Motoarcă

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

There are two main questions that any account of corporate lawyers’ moral obligations needs to answer: (1) Do corporate lawyers have moral obligations to third parties? and (2) In cases of conflict between obligations to the corporation and obligations to third parties, which should prevail? This Article offers answers to these questions in the context of lawyers working in medical corporations. I argue that lawyers do have moral obligations to third parties, and that in cases where patients’ rights are being violated by a medical company, patients’ rights should prevail. Consequently, attorney–client confidentiality rules should be relaxed to allow for …

The Foundational Skill Of Reflection In The Formation Of A Professional Identity, Neil W. Hamilton

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

There is a growing scholarly literature on the professional development and formation of law students into the core values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.* This growing scholarly literature can guide effective curriculum development to foster student growth toward later stages of development on these learning outcomes. This Article focuses on the skill of reflection as one of the most effective curricular strategies to foster each student’s growth toward later stages of these learning outcomes. This same curricular strategy will also be effective in engaging practicing lawyers to grow toward these same goals. Part II …

The Sale Of Law Practice In Texas: The Need For A Rule, Ryan Hagens

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Abstract forthcoming.

Actively Achieving Greater Racial Equity In Law School Classrooms, Catherine Bramble, Rory Bahadur

Cleveland State Law Review

2020 illustrated the ongoing pervasiveness of implicit and explicit racism in our society. Less well-acknowledged and recognized is the extent to which Socratic pedagogy also reflects those pervasive racist realities while simultaneously resulting in inferior learning based on a teaching method invented 150+ years ago. Despite this racist and outdated reality, the legal academy has been reluctant to alter the traditional method of teaching. Tangible, empirical evidence obtained from data-driven cognitive learning science research demonstrates that active learning not only improves learning outcomes for all students, but also mitigates the structural effects of racism in the classroom thereby increasing racial …

United States V. Donziger: How The Mere Appearance Of Judicial Impropriety Harms Us All, Jackie Kushner

Journal of Law and Policy

In 2011, environmentalist lawyer Steven Donziger was sued in a retaliatory lawsuit by the oil company Chevron, following his securement of a multibillion-dollar award against the company for its environmental harms in Ecuador. In a case rife with judicial impropriety, Donziger was ultimately charged with criminal contempt of court and his charges were prosecuted by a private attorney. These suits exemplify the growing problem of powerful corporations using legal tactics to retaliate against activists and undermine the legitimacy of the legal system. Federal judges contribute to the problem by misusing the extensive power they hold in distinguishing criminal from civil …

The Fate Of Comment 8: Analyzing A Lawyer's Ethical Obligation Of Technological Competence, Lisa Z. Rosenof

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reckless Abandon: The Shadow Of Model Rule 8.4(G) And A Path Forward, Margaret Tarkington

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In August 2016, the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Board of Governors approved Model Rule of Professional Conduct (“MRPC”) 8.4(g) as a model for state adoption. The Rule makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in “harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status.” Curbing harassment and discrimination is a critically important goal. However, the actual Rule as promulgated reaches far beyond prohibiting sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination. Instead the comments to the Rule define discrimination and harassment broadly to prohibit speech …

Confidential Settlements For Professional Malpractice, Sande L. Buhai

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

A lawyer representing a plaintiff in a professional malpractice case advises her client not to file a complaint with the state regulatory body—the state bar, the medical board, or some other pertinent body—until later. The lawyer explains that she can offer to settle the case more favorably, more quickly, and at lower cost if they promise that, as part of the settlement, defendant’s malfeasance will never be reported to the state regulatory body responsible for ensuring professional competence in the area. This tactic may allow the client to negotiate a larger settlement because the defendant should be willing to …

Confidentiality, Warning And Aids: A Proposal To Protect Patients, Third Parties And Physicians

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pamodzi Hotels Plc V Rosemary Nyangu Appeal No.15 Of 2011 (Zmsc) 2021, Natasha Chibuye, Mwami Kabwabwa

SAIPAR Case Review

No abstract provided.

How In The World Could They Reach That Conclusion?, Hon. Carlton Reeves

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Their Effects, And How We Can Stop Their Growth, Andrea Prisco

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Dramatic changes in the agricultural industry over the last century have led to the rise of concentrated animal feeding operations– industrial facilities that raise a large number of animals in confined spaces. Animals raised in these facilities suffer from poor quality of life and abuse. For humans, these facilities have had adverse effects on the environment and public health, but they are also associated with high productivity and low food costs. This Comment analyzes the effects of concentrated animal feeding operations on animal well-being, the environment, and public health. This Comment also analyzes current federal legislation that helps combat the …