Law Commons^™

Lawyers And Liberations, Robert E. Rodes

Journal Articles

The Jesuit educational tradition stresses the importance of service to the community and especially to its underprivileged members. Much of the discussion at the Ignatian Year celebration held at St. Louis University centered on the role of the law school in the Jesuit educational tradition. However, I would like to propose that this discussion take on a much larger focus.

The ideas of community service, solidarity with the poor and professionalism within an ethical context, although integral to the Jesuit tradition, are relevant to society as a whole. Furthermore, integration of these concepts into law school education is merely a …

Presenting Expert Testimony, James H. Seckinger

Journal Articles

Mindful that the readers of this Commentary include both experienced advocates as well as lawyers embarking on new careers in the courtroom, this author has divided the Commentary into two parts. The first part considers the seven touchstones for a persuasive direct examination of an expert witness. This discussion should be useful for the experienced and inexperienced advocate alike. The second part of the paper is intended as a primer on practical matters surrounding the selection, preparation, and presentation of an expert as a witness at trial. Experienced advocates may find in these pages confirmation of their practice concerning the …

Inaugural Howard Lichtenstein Lecture In Legal Ethics: Lawyer Professionalism As A Moral Argument, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

The recurrent movement to call or recall lawyers to professionalism is a moral argument. It is an argument made to individual lawyers, a claim among lawyers, that professionalism has to do with being a good person.

I see two aspects to the claim that professionalism is a moral value: one aspect says to a person "be professional." It is an admonition to virtue. The other aspect says to a person, "be in the profession—be of it," with an appeal that seems familiar from other admonitions we have heard to align ourselves with groups that are supposed to make us better …