Legal Profession Commons^™

The Unmet Legal Needs Of The Poor In Maine: Is Mandatory Pro Bono The Answer?, Wendy F. Rau

Maine Law Review

In 1989, the Maine Commission on Legal Needs was formed to study the civil legal needs of Maine's poor population and to develop a plan for meeting those needs. Similar projects have been undertaken in a number of other states and by the American Bar Association in recent years. Each study has revealed a significant unmet need among the poor for assistance with legal problems. There seems little doubt that the situation is serious and widespread. The difficulty lies in finding a solution. One proposal that has been advanced is mandatory pro bono, a program that would require attorneys to …

“The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same:” Lawyer Ethics In The 21st Century, Gregory C. Sisk

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

At an accelerating pace since the recession, our legal profession has been undergoing structural changes in the delivery of many legal services. At the same time, longstanding principles of ethics continue to govern the day-to-day lives of practicing lawyers.

This article lays out four examples of how meaningful change in lawyer practice has been accomplished since the turn-of-the-century with continued adherence to bedrock professional concepts. First, the rules now embrace the multi-jurisdictional practice of law, while the disciplinary authority of each jurisdiction is emphatically confirmed and strengthened. Second, rules on lawyer advertising are streamlined to grant largely open-ended permission for …

Iclr 2019 Conference Handout: Resources Related To "Outside The Law Office: Where Do The Boundaries Of Regulation Lie?", Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

The State's Role In The Regulation And Provision Of Legal Services In South Africa And The United States: Supporting, Nudging Or Interfering?, Helen Kruuse, Philip Genty

Faculty Scholarship

An independent legal profession is said to be “the bulwark of a free and democratic society.” It is also said that a high measure of independence of mind and action by legal actors is necessary for the maintenance of the rule of law. However, too often, there is the allegation (within the sociological literature in particular) that the legal profession has used the concepts of independence and the rule of law as a shield or cuirass rather than as a sword. The image of lawyers representing unpopular clients fearlessly and advocating on behalf of unpopular causes, so as to uphold …

Alternative Business Structures: Good For The Public, Good For The Lawyers, Jayne R. Reardon

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

There has been a shift in consumer behavior over the last several decades. To keep up with the transforming consumer, many professions have changed the way they do business. Yet lawyers continue to deliver services the way they have since the founding of our country. Bar associations and legal ethicists have long debated the idea of allowing lawyers to practice in “alternative business structures,” where lawyers and nonlawyers can co-own and co-manage a business to deliver legal services. This Article argues these types of businesses inhibit lawyers’ ability to provide better legal services to the public and that the legal …

Addressing Cultural Bias In The Legal Profession, Debra Chopp

Articles

Over the past two decades, there has been an outpouring of scholarship that explores the problem of implicit bias. Through this work, commentators have taken pains to define the phenomenon and to describe the ways in which it contributes to misunderstanding, discrimination, inequality, and more. This article addresses the role of implicit cultural bias in the delivery of legal services. Lawyers routinely represent clients with backgrounds and experiences that are vastly different from their own, and the fact of these differences can impede understanding, communication, and, ultimately, effective representation. While other professions, such as medicine and social work, have adopted …

The Impact Of Technological Developments On The Rules Of Attorney Ethics Regarding Attorney–Client Privilege, Confidentiality, And Social Media, Pamela A. Bresnahan, Lucian T. Pera

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This article focuses on the development of the law of ethics and technology. Emphasis is placed on how technological developments have affected the rules and means by which lawyers practice law and certain ethical pitfalls that have developed hand-in-hand with technological advancements. Topics examined include: (1) the ways by which electronic communication has increased the potential for the attorney–client privilege to be waived and the resulting impact on the present-day practice of law; (2) the effect of social media on lawyers’ ethical obligations, including counseling clients regarding the client’s use of social media and the lawyer’s own use of social …

Peter Singer, Drowning Children, And Pro Bono, John M.A. Dipippa

Faculty Scholarship

This Article uses the ethicist Peter Singer's principles to examine and critique the legal profession's pro bono efforts in the face of the persistent gap between the public's legal needs and their ability to meet them. Singer argues that adults should jump into a pond to save a drowning child. Using the drowning child as an analogy, this Article argues that lawyers are morally obligated to (1)increase the amount of their pro bono efforts, (2) be more selective in the cases they take, and (3) be significantly more generous in their financial support for legal services providers. These obligations are …

The Civil Legal Aid Movement: 15 Initiatives That Are Increasing Access To Justice In The United States, David Udell

Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law

No abstract provided.

The Downside Of Disruption: The Risks Associated With Transformational Change In The Delivery Of Legal Services, Raymond H. Brescia

Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law

No abstract provided.

Expanding Access To Justice: Alternatives To Full Representation In New York State, Randal Jeffrey

Wilf Impact Center for Public Interest Law

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Lawyer Regulators To Increase Client & Public Protection Through Adoption Of A Proactive Regulation System, Laurel Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

The idea behind this Article is Ben Franklin's statement that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This Article builds on the author's prior articles that argue that one can think about lawyer regulation issues as involving who-what-when-where-why-and-how to regulate issues. This Article addresses the issue of "WHEN" regulation should occur. It argues that regulators should be trying to PREVENT problems, as well as responding AFTER problems occur. This Article is primarily directed toward those who regulate U.S. lawyers. The Article argues that the lawyers who head regulatory bodies in the United States have the ability to …

The Power Of Lawyer Regulators To Increase Client & Public Protection Through Adoption Of A Proactive Regulation System, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Transnational Legal Practice 2015, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Lawyers, Regulation Of, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

This article was written for the second edition of the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. It begins with a “Definitions” section that notes several reasons why it can be difficult to discuss the topic of the “regulation of lawyers.” First, there is no agreed-upon definition of the term “lawyer.” In jurisdictions that have a unified legal profession, the meaning of the term may be clear, but in jurisdictions that do not have a unified legal profession (e.g. solicitors and barristers in England or jurisdictions that do not permit in-house counsel to be licensed “lawyers”), one must specify …

Globalization And Regulation, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Admitting Foreign-Trained Lawyers In States Other Than New York: Why It Matters, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Cracks In The Profession's Monopoly Armor, John Sahl

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the legal profession’s long-held monopoly in the nation’s legal services market in the context of two recent developments. The first development concerns the Conference of Chief Justices’ (CCJ) recent adoption of Resolution 15, “Encouraging Adoption of Rules Regarding Admission of Attorneys Who Are Dependents of Service Members.” Resolution 15 urges state bar authorities to develop and implement rules permitting admission without examination of lawyers who are military dependents. The CCJ’s rule promotes competition by facilitating the movement of lawyers from one geographic market to another.

The second development is Washington Supreme Court’s new Admission to Practice Rule …

Cracks In The Profession's Monopoly Armor, John Sahl

John Sahl

This article examines the legal profession’s long-held monopoly in the nation’s legal services market in the context of two recent developments. The first development concerns the Conference of Chief Justices’ (CCJ) recent adoption of Resolution 15, “Encouraging Adoption of Rules Regarding Admission of Attorneys Who Are Dependents of Service Members.” Resolution 15 urges state bar authorities to develop and implement rules permitting admission without examination of lawyers who are military dependents. The CCJ’s rule promotes competition by facilitating the movement of lawyers from one geographic market to another.

The second development is Washington Supreme Court’s new Admission to Practice Rule …

Globalization And The Aba Commission On Ethics 20/20: Reflections On Missed Opportunities And The Road Not Taken, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 was established in order to “perform a thorough review of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the U.S. system of lawyer regulation in the context of advances in technology and global legal practice developments.” The thesis of this article is that the Commission was much more successful with the “technology” aspect of its work than it was with the globalization aspect of its work. This article offers an explanation for these differing levels of success and identifies an alternative path the Commission might have taken that might have led to greater success …

Trends In Global Lawyer Regulation, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Reflections On U.S. Policies Regarding 'Effective Regulation And Discipline' And Foreign Lawyer Mobility: Has The Time Come To Talk About The Elephant In The Room?, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

The ABA has adopted four model policies that address, in one way or another, the issue of foreign lawyer mobility. These policies are the ABA Model Foreign Legal Consultant Rule, which is commonly known as the FLC rule, the ABA Model Rule for Temporary Practice by Foreign Lawyers, which is commonly known as the FIFO rule, ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 5.5, which permits foreign lawyers to serve as in-house counsel, and the ABA Model Rule on Pro Hac Vice Admission. All four of the ABA’s foreign lawyer mobility recommendations include a requirement that the mobile foreign lawyer is …

Creating An International Network Of Lawyer Regulators: The 2012 International Conference Of Legal Regulators, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

This short article provides an overview of the first-ever "International Conference of Legal Regulators," which was held in London in September 2012. It includes background information about the history of the London conference, identifies some of the London programs and attendees, and provides links to the website on which the London Conference materials are posted. The article also includes a brief discussion of the benefits that an international network might provide and explains that international networks are common in other regulated fields. Finally, this article provides information about the upcoming second International Conference of Legal Regulators, which will be held …

Transnational Legal Practice (International)[2010-2012], Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

This article covers three years of Transnational Legal Practice developments outside of the US. (It is the companion piece to 47 Int'l Law. 499 (2013) which discusses US developments.) This article discusses the approval of an Alternative Business Structure licensing system by the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority and its subsequent issuance of ABS licenses. The second section reviews the emergence of the “Troika” as a new regulatory influence in Europe, citing as an example the joint ABA-CCBE letter to the IMF. (The Troika refers to the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission.) The third section …

Transnational Legal Practice (United States) [2010-2012], Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

This article covers three years of Transnational Legal Practice developments in the U.S. (It is the companion article to 47 Int’l Lawyer 485 (2013) which discusses transnational legal practice developments outside of the U.S.) This article begins by briefly reviewing the uncertainty about the future of U.S. legal education and legal services. The next section discusses the proposals and changes that emanated from the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20, which was tasked with evaluating what changes were needed in light of globalization and technology developments. The third section of this article discusses the Uniform Bar Exam and its implications for …

Trends In Global And Canadian Lawyer Regulation, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Trends And Challenges In Lawyer Regulation: The Impact Of Globalization And Technology, Laurel Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Faculty Scholarly Works

Globalization and technology have changed the practice of law in dramatic ways. This is true not only in the United States, but around the world. In this article, author Laurel Terry, along with Australian regulators Steve Mark and Tahlia Gordon, documented some of these global trends in lawyer regulation. Their article concluded that regulators face issues in common regarding “who” is regulated, “what” or whom is regulated, “when” regulation occurs, “where” regulation occurs, “how” it occurs, and “why” regulation occurs. This article uses this who-what-when-where-why-and-how framework to discuss events around the world. These developments include the 2007 UK Legal Services …

Adopting Regulatory Objectives For The Legal Profession, Laurel Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Faculty Scholarly Works

In 2007, the United Kingdom adopted a new law called the Legal Services Act. This Act radically changed certain aspects of U.K. lawyer regulation. Section 1 of that Act identified eight “regulatory objectives” that provide the basis for the regulation of the legal profession. The United Kingdom is not the only jurisdiction that has identified regulatory objectives. Most Canadian provinces, for example, have provisions that are tantamount to regulatory objectives. Australia routinely used “purpose statements” when enacting legal profession regulation and was in the process of developing regulatory objectives at the time this article was written. Despite these examples, however, …

Trends And Challenges In Lawyer Regulation: The Impact Of Globalization And Technology, Laurel S. Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Laurel S. Terry

Transnational Legal Practice 2009, Carole Silver, Laurel S. Terry, Ellyn S. Rosen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article identifies some of the most important U.S. and international developments in transnational legal practice and provides citations for further research. The article begins by briefly reviewing the impact of the recession on legal services. The second section focuses on international developments. It identifies some of the ongoing efforts to implement the 2007 U.K. Legal Services Act, including the issuance of the influential Hunt and Smedley reports. It also provides information about law reform initiatives in France, Scotland and Korea. This section of the article also provides information about Canadian and Australian developments regarding admission of foreign applicants and …