Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Musings On Mediation, Kleenex, And (Smudged) White Hats, Nancy A. Welsh

Nancy Welsh

This Essay speculates on the global future of mediation. It anticipates that mediation’s popularity will continue to grow both in the U.S. and abroad particularly as courts continue to encourage and institutionalize the process. Meanwhile, the Essay acknowledges the existence and continuing development of a relatively small cadre of elite lawyers and retired judges who serve as private mediators in large, complex matters.

The Essay also raises concerns, though, regarding the current lack of clarity in the goals and procedural characteristics that define mediation. The Essay asserts that such lack of clarity invites abuse of the mediation privilege and exclusionary …

Legal Dimensions Of Adolescent Sexuality, Roxanne Mykitiuk, Stephanie Turnham

Roxanne Mykitiuk

The ethical and legal obligations with respect to treating a minor can be confusing, particularly in the areas of consent to treatment, confidentiality, and parental involvement. The clinician must be aware of the appropriate course of practice when the patient is an adolescent seeking care for contraception, pregnancy, or sexually transmitted infections. This article examines a number of ethical and legal issues that arise when providing reproductive and sexual health care to an adolescent and offers recommendations for the physician’s most appropriate courses of action regarding adolescent patients and the age of consent to sexual activity, reporting of child abuse, …

El Derecho Al Secreto Y La Teoría Del Cono, Juan Carlos Riofrío Martínez-Villalba

Juan Carlos Riofrío Martínez-Villalba

El presente estudio contiene una teoría general del derecho de los secretos, que sirve para determinar el peso específico de cada secreto, a efectos de realizar una correcta ponderación de derechos. La teoría explica las relaciones que existen entre los diversos tipos de secreto, utilizando y desarrollando la teoría del cono de García Morente, que se muestra como una herramienta apropiada para dilucidar cuándo hay derecho al secreto, cuando no lo hay y en qué medida. La metodología utilizada es inductiva. El análisis se estructura de la siguiente manera: (i) se recapitula la teoría general del derecho de los secretos; …

Buying Voice: Financial Rewards For Whistleblowing Lawyers, Nancy J. Moore, Kathleen Clark

Nancy J Moore

“Buying Voice: Financial Incentives for Whistleblowing Lawyers”

Kathleen Clark and Nancy J. Moore

Abstract

The federal government relies increasingly on whistleblowers to ferret out fraud, and has awarded whistleblowers over $4 billion under the False Claims Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform and Consumer Protection Act. May lawyers ethically seek whistleblower rewards under these federal statutes? A handful of lawyers have tried to do so as FCA qui tam relators. They have not yet succeeded, but several court decisions suggest that they might be able to do so under confidentiality exceptions to state ethics law, which several courts have …

The Federal Government Lawyer's Duty To Breach Confidentiality, James E. Moliterno

James E. Moliterno

The lawyer's duty of confidentiality springs from the lawyer-client relationship and its parameters are determined by the nature of that relationship. The federal government lawyer's client is like no other. The uniqueness of representing the United States calls for a unique approach to the duty of confidentiality. Unlike the private individual client, the government as a client does not speak with a single, unmistakable voice. Unlike the private entity client, the federal government has a paramount interest in the public good, including the public's right to know about government (the entity's conduct), especially its misconduct. The result is a client …

Beware: What You Say To Your [Government] Lawyer May Be Held Against You - The Erosion Of Government Attorney-Client Confidentiality, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Municipal Ethics Remain A Hot Topic In Litigation: A 1999 Survey Of Issues In Ethics For Municipal Lawyers, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Conflict Of Interests: Seeking A Way Forward On Publication Of International Arbitral Awards, Joshua D H Karton

Joshua Karton

There now appears to be general agreement that greater publication of awards would benefit the international commercial arbitration system, yet most awards remain unpublished. This article explains the current state of affairs by reference to the conflict between party and systemic interests. Since international arbitration is a private, consent-based system, party interests in keeping awards confidential are likely to trump systemic interests in publishing them—even if those systemic interests align with the long-term interests of commercial parties generally.

The conflict of interests not only explains why confidentiality of international arbitral awards remains the rule, it also points the way to …

Migrating Lawyers And The Ethics Of Conflict Checking, Paul R. Tremblay

Paul R. Tremblay

Lawyers often leave a practice setting and move to a new practice as their career paths advance or change. The incidence of lawyer migration has increased dramatically in the past decade, as law firms recruit more lateral hires and offer fewer partnership opportunities to their associates. As a lawyer prepares to change employment settings, her prospective new law firm asks her about the clients she has represented in the past. The new law firm must insist on this information, for without it the firm could not screen for possible conflicts of interest. Were the firm to hire a lawyer without …

Social Media And Legal Ethics, Jonathan I. Ezor

Jonathan I. Ezor

A presentation on the legal issues arising out of attorney use of social media services, including for electronic discovery

Ombuds In Cloud Of Exabytes--Understanding The Ombuds' Digital Trail, Craig B. Mousin

Craig B. Mousin

Taking The Ethical Duty To Self Seriously: An Essay In Memory Of Fred Zacharias, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

No abstract provided.

Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

Among the challenges facing the lawyer who renders legal services to clients with limited means are ethical and professional questions relating to the influence of third parties on the lawyer-client relationship. Although all lawyers may potentially face ethical dilemmas involving third parties, legal services lawyers are particularly vulnerable to such issues because, unlike most lawyers, legal services lawyers generally rely on the financial support of someone other than their client. These challenges may take many forms, affecting a variety of ethical and professional considerations. Levine examines a number of areas in which bar association committees, scholars, and courts have addressed …

Exceptions, Lawrence Raful

Lawrence Raful

No abstract provided.

Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

Among the challenges facing the lawyer who renders legal services to clients with limited means are ethical and professional questions relating to the influence of third parties on the lawyer-client relationship. Although all lawyers may potentially face ethical dilemmas involving third parties, legal services lawyers are particularly vulnerable to such issues because, unlike most lawyers, legal services lawyers generally rely on the financial support of someone other than their client. These challenges may take many forms, affecting a variety of ethical and professional considerations. Levine examines a number of areas in which bar association committees, scholars, and courts have addressed …

Collaborating With A Digital Forensics Expert: Ultimate Tag-Team Or Disastrous Duo?, Sean L. Harrington

Sean L Harrington

No abstract provided.