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The Inadmissibility Of Professional Ethical Standards In Legal Malpractice Actions After Hizey V. Carpenter, Marc R. Greenough

Washington Law Review

In Hizey v. Carpenter, the Washington Supreme Court became the only court of last resort to prohibit introduction of the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Rules of Professional Conduct as evidence of an attorney's common law duty of care in an action for legal malpractice. This Note examines the Hizey decision and argues that the court should not create a preferential standard for attorneys. Instead, the court should admit professional ethical standards as evidence in legal malpractice actions on the same basis that the court admits statutes, ordinances, and administrative rules in other actions for negligence.