Law Commons^™

Ex Parte Communication By The Judiciary, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The recent establishment of an Individual Assignment System in New York has introduced what one commentator has referred to as new "rules of the game". Nonetheless, the old rules still apply with respect to ex parte communication by judges which is governed by Canon 3(A)( 4) of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Canon 3(A)(4), as adopted by the New York State Bar Association in 1973, prohibits a judge from initiating or considering ex parte communications concerning a pending or impending proceeding. This prohibition, which has been strictly construed by decisional law and bar association advisory opinions, has new significance under …

Made In The U.S.A.: Legal And Ethical Issues In Artificial Heart Experimentation, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

The death of William Schroeder in Louisville, Kentucky, on August 6, 1986, brought to a close a remarkable chapter in public human experimentation. Artificial heart implants represent the most public experiments in the history of the world. The manner in which they are conducted is a matter of utmost public and professional concern, since it graphically portrays the seriousness with which we take our laws and ethical rules regarding the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects. Unfortunately, the brief history of artificial heart implants is neither a happy nor a proud one. Begun with high hopes and …

Artists, Workers, And The Law Of Work: Keynote Address, Howard Lesnick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

How The Patent And Copyright Clauses Came To Be A Part Of Our National Charter, Roger J. Miner '56

Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Federal Courts At The Crossroads, Roger J. Miner '56

Bar Associations

No abstract provided.

The Duty To Criticize The Courts (Ii), Roger J. Miner '56

Judges

No abstract provided.

Nix V. Whiteside: The Lawyer's Role In Response To Perjury, James R. Mccall

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Attorney Loyalty And Client Perjury - A Postscript To Nix V. Whiteside, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

How much, if at all, can a criminal defense lawyer cooperate in his or her client's decision to commit perjury? Courts, commentators, and bar committees have grappled with this question for years without offering clear or consistent guidelines. Any principled response must take into account some very hard questions. Under what circumstances, for instance, does the lawyer ever really "know" that his client's proposed testimony is false? Is it sufficient if the lawyer simply disbelieves his client's story, or that of his client's witnesses? Does it make any difference if the attorney learns of a plan to perjure during the …

The Integration Of Responsibility And Values: Legal Education In An Alternative Consciousness Of Lawyering And Law, Howard Lesnick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Uniform Rule Governing The Admission And Practice Of Attorneys Before United States District Courts, Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

The increase in the interstate and international practice of law necessitates a review of the rules governing the admission of attorneys to practice before federal district courts. By virtue of the sweep of their jurisdictional net, federal district courts are likely to be the fora for litigating most interstate or international disputes. The present rules, based upon the antiquated notion that lawyers only rarely practice law in federal district court, and then only in the federal district court located in the state in which they practice, do not address this change in the practice of law.

For these reasons, a …

The Ethics Of Dissent And Friendship In The American Professions, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

Professional ethics is commonly understood as a creature of the establishment—the study of what the better doctors and lawyers do and impose on their colleagues. But this traditional notion of ethics conveys a message that professionals need only care for their clients or patients to a certain point whether it is the end of the professional’s expertise, the end of the contract or the end of an assigned task. But this ethical understanding loses the sense of professionals serving a community. This Article dissents from that common understanding of ethics and tells dissenting-professional stories that show professional ethics through the …

The Professional Responsibility Of The Law Professor: Three Neglected Questions, Monroe H. Freedman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Law professors have a great deal to say about the ethics of law practitioners. We write law review articles about lawyers' professional responsibilities, and we have participated in drafting codes of conduct for practicing lawyers.

Many of us bring to that task a significant perspective. We can be both informed about and detached from the pressures of daily practice. We are free of involvement or (worse yet) identification with particular clients. Indeed, in choosing to become law professors, we have made the choice to dissociate ourselves from contact with clients.

Not surprisingly, therefore, most law professors tend to minimize the …

Why Prosecutors Misbehave, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The author, perhaps the nation's top authority on prosecutorial misconduct, raises and analyzes two questions: Why does this misconduct occur? (It often pays off.) And why does it continue? (There are no effective sanctions.)

The Profession As A Moral Teacher, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

Professional ethics is commonly understood as the standards listed in codes. But ethical codes that are removed from one’s character and the practice of the profession are corrupting. Rather, ethics are properly taught through the profession as a moral teacher. This Article argues that professional stories that instruct on real life experiences and one’s character better educate lawyers and doctors on ethical standards. Sound ethical codes in the profession are those which depend on character.

The Judge, Marianne Wesson

Publications

No abstract provided.

New Rules Of Professional Conduct: Critical Concerns For Idaho Lawyers, Donald L. Burnett Jr.

Articles

No abstract provided.

To Whom Does The Government Lawyer Owe The Duty Of Loyalty When Clients Are In Conflict, William Josephson, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

This Article focuses on the continuing debate on the ethical obligations of government lawyers: do government lawyers represent the people or do they represent a client? The Article explains that the dominant conception that government lawyers represent the people actually results in government lawyers representing themselves. After examining alternative approaches to determining the identity of the government lawyer’s client, the Article concludes that only one approach is consistent with both the ethical rules and our republican system of government. The government lawyer’s client properly understood is an elected official or, in certain cases, an agency head with legal authority independent …

An Overview Of The Law Of Professional Responsibility: The Rules Of Professional Conduct Annotated And Analyzed, Robert H. Aronson

Articles

This Article contains two parts with different purposes. The first part consists of an introduction and critique of the recently adopted Washington Rules of Professional Conduct. Some of the rules that differ from the Model Rules, that violate Constitutional requirements, or that inappropriately resolve competing policies are evaluated. Two of the most important areas—confidentiality and advertising—are treated separately and in-depth in student Survey Comments. The second part of this Article consists of an overview of the law of professional responsibility in Washington. It follows the organization and rule sequence of the RPC, with annotations, applications, and interpretations from the ABA …

Ethics And The Settlement Of Civil Rights Cases: Can Attorneys Keep Their Virtue And Their Fees?, Lloyd B. Snyder

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Civil Rights Attorneys' Fees Award Act of 1976 authorizes an award of fees to the prevailing party in a civil rights action. The United State Supreme Court, in Evans v. Jeff D., has interpreted the Fees Act to authorize the parties in a civil rights action to negotiate settlement of fees and merits jointly. The Court did not determine whether joint fees-merits negotiation is ethical. The author of this article contends that joint negotiation is ethical. He further contends that it is ethical for plaintiff's attorney to reject an offer of settlement if the offer is coupled with a …

Judicial Clerkships And Elite Professional Culture, William H. Simon

Faculty Scholarship

Clerkships have become increasingly prominent in the culture of elite law schools in recent years. More students are seeking clerkships; the application process starts earlier and lasts longer; and the quest seems to generate more anxiety and absorb more energy than in the past.

"Understanding...": Processing Information And Values In Clinical Work, Edwin H. Greenebaum

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Lawyer As Informer, Gerard E. Lynch

Faculty Scholarship

From the schoolyard "tattletale" to the police officer's "confidential informant" to the Pentagon "whistle blower," our society is deeply ambivalent toward those who report the wrongdoing of others to the authorities. On the one hand, society values informers. Without informers, serious misbehavior would certainly escape correction. The police officers' code of silence with respect to fellow officers' crimes, for example, may be a major obstacle to eliminating police corruption and brutality. On the other hand, society scorns informers as betrayers of confidence. Even one who violates an antisocial pact such as the police officers' code of silence is viewed as …

Why Kentucky Should Adopt The Aba's Model Rules Of Professional Conduct, Eugene R. Gaetke

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1983, after six years of drafting and lively debate, the American Bar Association adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as its most recent statement of the ethical norms of the legal profession. Shortly thereafter the ABA forwarded the rules to the states for consideration and possible adoption as binding ethical principles. As of this writing, a number of states have adopted the Model Rules, in full or in substantial form, and several more have proposals for such adoption pending before their supreme courts

The Kentucky Supreme Court presently awaits the state bar association's recommendation regarding the Model Rules' …