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Full-Text Articles in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Open Chambers?, Richard W. Painter Jan 1999

Open Chambers?, Richard W. Painter

Michigan Law Review

Edward Lazarus has written the latest account of what goes on behind the marble walls of the Supreme Court. His book is not the first to selectively reveal confidential communications between the Justices and their law clerks. Another book, Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong's The Brethren2 achieved that distinction in 1979. Closed Chambers: The First Eyewitness Account of the Epic Struggles Inside the Supreme Court, however, adds a new twist. Whereas The Brethren was written by journalists who persuaded former law clerks to breach the confidences of the Justices, Lazarus was himself a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun. Closed …


Professional Responsibility Of The Criminal Defense Lawyer: The Three Hardest Questions, Monroe H. Freedman Jan 1966

Professional Responsibility Of The Criminal Defense Lawyer: The Three Hardest Questions, Monroe H. Freedman

Michigan Law Review

In almost any area of legal counseling and advocacy, the lawyer may be faced with the dilemma of either betraying the confidential communications of his client or participating to some extent in the purposeful deception of the court. This problem is nowhere more acute than in the practice of criminal law, particularly in the representation of the indigent accused.


The Purposes Of Advocacy And The Limits Of Confidentiality, John T. Noonan Jr. Jan 1966

The Purposes Of Advocacy And The Limits Of Confidentiality, John T. Noonan Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The privilege of confidentiality between lawyer and client is a significant barrier to the search for truth and the attainment of justice. Since bankers, accountants, psychiatrists, and confessors are not entitled at common law to confidentiality in their relationships with those with whom they deal, one may well inquire why lawyers possess such an extraordinary privilege. In the early English case which established the lawyer-client privilege, counsel offered several justifications: (I) A "gentleman of character" does not disclose his client's secrets. (2) An attorney identifies himself with his client, and it would be "contrary to the rules of natural justice …


Professional Ethics In Criminal Trials: A View Of Defense Counsel's Responsibility, David G. Bress Jan 1966

Professional Ethics In Criminal Trials: A View Of Defense Counsel's Responsibility, David G. Bress

Michigan Law Review

More than thirty years ago, in Berger v. United States, Mr. Justice Sutherland described the heavy and multiple responsibility assumed by a prosecutor. The United States Attorney, he asserted, not only must be an advocate for the prosecution, but also must ensure that justice prevails. The Justice stated: "It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one."


Evidence-Privilege-Husband And Wife-Attorney And Client Jan 1936

Evidence-Privilege-Husband And Wife-Attorney And Client

Michigan Law Review

A husband and wife are involved in marital difficulties. Together they consult an attorney in an effort to compromise their dispute, or failing in that, to arrange a property settlement prior to separation or divorce. Such a joint consultation may be for any one of a variety of purposes. In a later action, for divorce or separate maintenance for example, the question arises whether either the attorney or one of the spouses can disclose words spoken by the other spouse in the consultation. For instance, can the attorney or the husband disclose the wife's admission of adultery?