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2000

University of Missouri School of Law

Legal ethics

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Rule Of Law(Yers), The, Robert F. Cochran Jr. Apr 2000

Rule Of Law(Yers), The, Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Missouri Law Review

In recent years, several lawyers and law professors have written books about the decline of ethical behavior in the legal profession.' They have found that lawyers are more adversarial, less civil, less honest, less concerned with justice, and less happy than in the past.2 Associates are less loyal to firms, and firms are less loyal to associates. 3 Many lawyers lament what the profession has become. They wonder whether they do a good thing. "Can I be a lawyer and a good person?" "Do lawyers add to the misery of the world?"


Corporations Practicing Law Through Lawyers: Why The Unauthorized Practice Of Law Doctrine Should Not Apply, Grace M. Giesel Jan 2000

Corporations Practicing Law Through Lawyers: Why The Unauthorized Practice Of Law Doctrine Should Not Apply, Grace M. Giesel

Missouri Law Review

Historically, a doctrine has existed within the area of unauthorized practice of law regulation which holds that a corporation or other entity cannot be licensed to practice law and thus cannot legally practice law. Even if the entity hires as an employee an attorney duly licensed to render the service, the doctrine forbids the attomey from representing any party other than the employer because if the attorney were to represent a third party, the entity, a nonlawyer, would be representing the third party, and this would violate the rule that corporations may not practice law.2 The primary motivating rationale of …


Sacrificial Attorney: Assignment Of Legal Malpractice Claims, The, John M. Limbaugh Jan 2000

Sacrificial Attorney: Assignment Of Legal Malpractice Claims, The, John M. Limbaugh

Missouri Law Review

The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri ruled, in a case of first impression, that causes of action for legal malpractice are nonassignable. The court found that permitting assignments would be contrary to public policy because assignments would create a marketplace for legal malpractice claims, jeopardize the attorney's duties of loyalty and confidentiality to the client, and restrict access to competent legal services. This Note agrees with the court's result but will explore and challenge the public policy arguments against assignment of legal malpractice claims.