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Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Journal

2008

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication

Articles 61 - 75 of 75

Full-Text Articles in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

It's About Time: The Need For A Uniform Approach To Using A Prior Conviction To Impact A Witness., Robert F. Holland Jan 2008

It's About Time: The Need For A Uniform Approach To Using A Prior Conviction To Impact A Witness., Robert F. Holland

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Texas, no uniform approach exists in determining whether to admit evidence of a prior conviction as a technique to impeach a witness. This lack of uniformity leads to significant consequences for the parties and poses a potential prejudicial effect on the truthful character of a witness. Furthermore, there is currently no bright-line judicial standard when evaluating the admissibility of certain prior convictions. Although the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Theus v. State provided a non-exhaustive set of factors for trial judges to consider, the court has yet to clarify particular aspects of how to properly apply Texas Rule …

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American Legal Ethics In An Age Of Anxiety., Michael Ariens Jan 2008

American Legal Ethics In An Age Of Anxiety., Michael Ariens

St. Mary's Law Journal

The thesis of my article, “American Legal Ethics in an Age of Anxiety,” is that the historical development of American legal ethics was regularly accompanied by an anxiety within the profession. In general, I suggest the legal profession’s understanding of its ethical precepts has been molded and reshaped during periods of professional anxiety. The profession’s understanding of legal ethics changed dramatically during various crises in the 19th century, exemplified by the different approaches taken by David Hoffman in the mid-1830s, George Sharswood in the mid-1850s, and David Dudley Field in the early 1870s. In each case, however, the triggering event …

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The Metes And Bounds Of Governmental Immunity And Political Subdivisions: Limiting Tort Liability For Municipal Utility Districts In Texas Recent Development., Dawn E. Norman Jan 2008

The Metes And Bounds Of Governmental Immunity And Political Subdivisions: Limiting Tort Liability For Municipal Utility Districts In Texas Recent Development., Dawn E. Norman

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

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The Texas School Finance Litigation Saga: Great Progress, Then Near Death By A Thousand Cuts., Albert H. Kauffman Jan 2008

The Texas School Finance Litigation Saga: Great Progress, Then Near Death By A Thousand Cuts., Albert H. Kauffman

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Texas Legislature’s system for financing Texas schools is significantly more equitable after Edgewood v. Kirby. Edgewood I and Edgewood II effectively forced the legislature to improve the finance system. However, the rulings in the first two Edgewood cases have been whittled away by the last four Edgewood decisions.. As a result, courts now approach fundamental issues, legislative power, and the relationship between them differently. The Edgewood v. Kirby legacy still improves the equity and adequacy of Texas’s public education finance system. This legacy is expanded upon with observations regarding long term impacts of the Texas school finance litigation saga.

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Growing Pains: Changes In Collaborative Law And The Challenge Of Legal Ethics, Christopher M. Fairman Jan 2008

Growing Pains: Changes In Collaborative Law And The Challenge Of Legal Ethics, Christopher M. Fairman

Campbell Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Working Around The Withdrawal Agreement: Statutory Evidentiary Safeguards Negate The Need For A Withdrawal Agreement In Collaborative Law Proceedings, Jennifer M. Kuhn Jan 2008

Working Around The Withdrawal Agreement: Statutory Evidentiary Safeguards Negate The Need For A Withdrawal Agreement In Collaborative Law Proceedings, Jennifer M. Kuhn

Campbell Law Review

This Comment will proceed by: (I) comparing state collaborative law statutes; (II) evaluating the current ethical climate surrounding withdrawal agreements in collaborative law; (III) considering the purpose of the withdrawal agreement and how evidentiary safeguards can provide the same incentives; and finally, concluding that statutory evidentiary safeguards eliminate the need for a mandatory withdrawal agreement in the collaborative law setting.

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Making The Plaintiff ’S Bar Earn Its Keep: Rethinking The Hospital Incident Report, Katherine Mikk Jan 2008

Making The Plaintiff ’S Bar Earn Its Keep: Rethinking The Hospital Incident Report, Katherine Mikk

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

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The Independence Of The Law Department, Jeffrey D. Friedlander Jan 2008

The Independence Of The Law Department, Jeffrey D. Friedlander

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Peace On Earth, Goodwill In Divorce: Revisiting Travis In Light Of Oklahoma’S Revised Ethical Rule Allowing The Sale Of Law Practice Goodwill, Jennifer D. Ary-Hogue Jan 2008

Peace On Earth, Goodwill In Divorce: Revisiting Travis In Light Of Oklahoma’S Revised Ethical Rule Allowing The Sale Of Law Practice Goodwill, Jennifer D. Ary-Hogue

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Canadian Legal Ethics: Ready For The Twenty-First Century At Last, Adam M. Dodek Jan 2008

Canadian Legal Ethics: Ready For The Twenty-First Century At Last, Adam M. Dodek

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article analyzes the transformation in the scholarship of legal ethics that has occurred in Canada over the last decade, and maps out an agenda for future research. The author attributes the recent growth of Canadian legal ethics as an academic discipline to a number of interacting factors: a response to external pressures, initiatives within the legal profession, changes in Canadian legal education, and the emergence of a new cadre of legal ethics scholars. This article chronicles the public history of legal ethics in Canada over the last decade and analyzes the first and second wave of scholarship in the …

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Sustainable Professionalism, Trevor C. W. Farrow Jan 2008

Sustainable Professionalism, Trevor C. W. Farrow

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article challenges traditional visions of lawyering by building on current alternative narratives and articulating a new discourse of professionalism that is personally, politically, ethically, economically, and professionally sustainable. It is a discourse that makes space for lawyers' principles, interests, and life preferences by balancing them with other important interests (including, but not dominated by, those of clients). It is a discourse that seeks to make good on aspirational promises of equality, access to justice, and protecting the public interest. And it is a discourse that takes seriously obligations to, as well as benefits from, the culturally complicated makeup of …

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In The Public Interest': The Responsibilities And Rights Of Government Lawyers, Allan C. Hutchinson Jan 2008

In The Public Interest': The Responsibilities And Rights Of Government Lawyers, Allan C. Hutchinson

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

While considerable thought and effort have been put into exploring and fixing the ethical rights and professional responsibilities of private Lawyers, little energy has been directed towards defining and defending the role and duties of government lawyers. As a result, the traditional understanding seems to be that government lawyers are to consider themselves as being under the same regimen and restrictions as their private counterparts. After criticizing this default approach, the article offers a fresh evaluation of what is different about the role of government lawyers and develops a more appropriate model for thinking about their professional responsibilities and ethical …

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Representing A Minor: A Shared Dilemma In Ontario And Massachusetts, Andrew L. Kaufman Jan 2008

Representing A Minor: A Shared Dilemma In Ontario And Massachusetts, Andrew L. Kaufman

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This commentary considers what lawyers should do when confidential information from their minor clients indicates that the minor's instructions either present a substantial risk of harm to the minor or are irrational. The commentary then asks readers to decide whether and how their personal resolution should be generalized into the law of professional responsibility. The author compares current Ontario and Massachusetts law with a new Massachusetts proposal. The author strongly criticizes the proposal as violating the tenuous compromise between "client-directed" and "best- interests" or "substituted judgment" theories that appear to govern in both jurisdictions in favour of a rule that …

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The Public Interest, Professionalism, And Pro Bono Publico, Lorne Sossin Jan 2008

The Public Interest, Professionalism, And Pro Bono Publico, Lorne Sossin

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

There is a clear public interest benefit for lawyers to ensure access to the rule of law, especially on the part of the vulnerable. This article seeks to show that the seemingly simple relationship between the legal profession and the public interest is in fact more complicated than it looks. Pro bono may be viewed from two perspectives-that of the lawyer and that of the client. From the perspective of the lawyer, the important question is whether there is ethical motivation to engage in pro bono. If, however, the perspective of the client is paramount, then meeting the client's needs …

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Does Civility Matter?, Alice Woolley Jan 2008

Does Civility Matter?, Alice Woolley

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Recent discussion of legal ethics in Canada has focused on the importance of "civility" as a fundamental value and goal of ethical conduct. This comment questions that focus. After defining the content of "civility' and reviewing its treatment in these initiatives by both the law societies and the courts, the author suggests that the emphasis on civility is misplaced. Focusing on civility has the undesirable tendency to impede lawyer reporting of misconduct by other lawyers and potentially undermines the effective representation of client interests. It also shifts emphasis away from the ethical values that should be the focus of our …

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