Digital Commons Network^™

Decency, Dignity, And Desert: Restoring Ideals Of Humane Punishment To Constitutional Discourse, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

American punishment today is degrading, indecent, and harsher than deserved despite a Constitution designed to protect people from cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s response to the increasing inhumanity of contemporary punishment has been to reduce its Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to tidy categories, legal fictions, and hollow phrases. Absent from the discourse is any acknowledgement of the actual day-to-day experience facing the convicted person, or any suggestion that, although punishments can be degrading, they need not be. The case for treating a convicted person with respect for his human dignity, and for constitutional scrutiny of punishment as …

Medium-Specific Regulation Of Attorney Advertising: A Critique, Lyrissa Lidsky, Tera Peterson

Faculty Publications

Florida has been one of the most aggressive states in regulating attorney advertising. The Florida Supreme Court recently adopted new and more stringent rules regulating broadcast advertising by attorneys, and the court appears poised to adopt new and more stringent rules governing Internet advertising by attorneys. As this Article details, the problem is that Florida's new and proposed rules violate both the First Amendment and sound public policy principles. This Article provides guidance to states contemplating further regulation of attorney advertising, and it indirectly critiques current commercial speech doctrine.

Convocation On The Face Of The Profession: Judicial Institute On Professionalism In The Law, Stephen J. Friedman

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

A How To Guide For Incorporating Global And Comparative Perspectives Into The Required Professional Responsibility Course, Laurel S. Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

This article was written for an AALS symposium on "Teaching Legal Ethics" and discusses how to incorporate global and comparative perspectives into the required Professional Responsibility course. The scope of the paper is much broader, however. The first half of the paper explains why global and comparative perspectives are relevant to contemporary law practice. This section explains why global perspectives are relevants to clients and lawyers and explains why lawyer regulators now use a more global approach to regulation than previously. The second half illustrates how one can introduce global and comparative perspectives into a professional responsibility course without taking …

"Lawyers" Not "Liars": A Modified Traditionalist Approach To Teaching Legal Ethics, Lonnie T. Brown

Scholarly Works

As attorneys, we undeniably should be faithful confidantes to, and staunch allies for, our clients, but we must also never lose sight of the fact that we are not simply client representatives; we are concurrently officers of the court and keepers of the public trust. Though I strive diligently to make my students aware of the specific ethical duties owed to clients, I always stress even more intently the importance of these latter two components of their professional obligation. They are what set the practice of law apart from other occupations, and they are what should serve to inspire us …

Law Firms, Ethics, And Equity Capital: A Conversation, Georgetown University Law Center, The Center For The Study Of The Legal Profession

CSLP Papers & Reports

The correspondence collected here represents an effort to start a conversation. Pending legislation in the United Kingdom, based on what is known as the Clementi Report, would permit non-lawyer equity investment in law firms, subject to regulatory oversight. In other words, UK law firms could become publicly-traded businesses. This legislation has been proposed as part of reforms heralded as improving the delivery of legal services to consumers. By contrast, such investment in law firms is forbidden by ethical rules in the United States. What will happen when the two countries with the most dominant global law firms begin to move …

On Misjudging And Its Implications For Criminal Defendants, Their Lawyers And The Criminal Justice System, Rodney J. Uphoff

Faculty Publications

Unquestionably, judges misjudge. Even the most arrogant of judges ultimately will concede that all judges err and, at some point, fail to apply governing law to the facts of the case accurately. Although all might agree that judges err, not all judges, lawyers, and scholars agree on how judges should behave or on what constitutes good judging. Not surprisingly, they also disagree about misjudging and the frequency with which it occurs.In his provocative article Misjudging, Chris Guthrie contends that “misjudging is more common, more systematic, and more harmful than the legal system has fully realized.” Based on my observations and …

Challenges And Guidance For Lawyering In A Global Society, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This foreword provides an overview of some key aspects of law practice that have changed over the last thirty years. Advancements in technology that allow communication and interaction across borders have facilitated lawyers in globalizing their practice locality. Consequently, new issues regarding comparative ethics have arisen. This foreword suggests that ethics rules have not kept pace with the changing landscape of law practice and uses current standards for advanced waivers, rules relating to contracts with represented and unrepresented persons, and the proper use of ethics rules in civil litigation to illustrate this point. This foreword raises concern over the erosion …

Institutionalizing Public Service In Law School: Results On The Impact Of Mandatory Pro Bono Programs, Robert Granfield

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Capital Defense Lawyers: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Sean D. O'Brien

Michigan Law Review

Professor Welsh S. White's book Litigating in the Shadow of Death: Defense Attorneys in Capital Cases collects the compelling stories of "a new band of dedicated lawyers" that has "vigorously represented capital defendants, seeking to prevent their executions" (p.3). Sadly, Professor White passed away on New Year's Eve, 2005, days before the release of his final work. To the well-deserved accolades of Professor White that were recently published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, I can only add a poignant comment in a student blog that captures his excellence as a scholar and educator: "I wanted to …

Lawyers And Prophetic Justice, Timothy Floyd

Mercer Law Review

The statue of Lady Justice, a blindfold over her eyes, holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other, is our traditional visual image of justice. The scales convey the idea of neutrality and the weighing of competing interests; they emphasize rationality and the application of neutral principles in decision making. The blindfold emphasizes equality before the law, that the law is dispassionate and objective, and that decision making is untainted by bias. The statue also implies the stability and permanence of the justice system.

In my experience with lawyers, justice is not a regular topic in our …

The Assertion Of Attorney Client Privilege By Counsel In Legal Malpractice Cases - Policy, Privilege And The Search For Truth In Cases Involving Implied Waivers, Lawrence M. Steckman

ExpressO

Waiver of attorney-client privilege frequently arises as an issue in legal malpractice cases. Discovery or privileged communications between client and counsel may show that attorneys other than the malpractice defendant played a substantial role in bringing about the client's loss.

The Negotiator As Professional: Understanding The Competing Interests Of A Representative Negotiator, Trevor C. W. Farrow

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

This article is about lawyers as negotiators, and in particular, it is about identifying and understanding the influential and potentially competing interests that are - or at least should be - in the minds of lawyers (and potentially other third party representatives) during the overall negotiation process. While there continues to be an increasing amount of literature on the mechanics and strategies of negotiation, the underlying interests that are typically at stake in representative negotiations from the perspective of representatives - particularly negotiations involving lawyers - have not been adequately studied. Current accounts of the representative negotiator do not paint …

(Not) Advising Corporate Officers About Fiduciary Duties, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, Robert V. Ricca

Scholarly Articles

This Article explores the intersection of an important, unresolved corporate law issue and an overlooked professional responsibility issue persistently arising in the corporate milieu. The corporate law question currently unaddressed in Delaware law is whether the fiduciary duties of corporate officers, as agents, are the same as, or different from, the fiduciary duties of corporate directors. A related question is whether, in reviewing officer conduct, courts will apply the business judgment rule in the same broad (and protective) manner in which it is applied to assessing director behavior.

The professional responsibility issue concerns whether, and how well, lawyers are advising …

To Disclose Or Not To Disclose. That Is The Question For The Corporate Fiduciary Who Is Also A Pension Plan Fiduciary Under Erisa: Resolving The Conflict Of Duty, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article examines the seeming irreconcilable conflict faced by the pension plan fiduciary, who is a corporate insider, to disclose or not to disclose material, inside information to plan participants, who would use the information to divest investments in company stock, without disclosing the same information to persons on the other side of these trades. The Article begins with a general discussion of the regulation of trade in securities and the history of the insider trading laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Part III discusses the soundness of the prohibition against insider trading. Part IV explains the duties …

Client Responsibility For Lawyer Conduct: Examining The Agency Nature Of The Lawyer-Client Relationship., Grace M. Giesel

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In the 1962 decision of Link v. Wabash Railroad Co., the United States Supreme Court reviewed a district court's sua sponte dismissal of a diversity negligence action. Six years after the plaintiff filed the matter, the district court scheduled a pretrial conference and gave counsel two weeks notice of the scheduled conference. On the day of the conference, plaintiffs counsel called the court to say that he would be unable to attend the conference, giving the impolitic reason that he was busy preparing some documents for the state supreme court. The attorney did not attend the conference, and the district …

Faith In Community: Representing "Colored Town", Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Challenges And Guidance For Lawyering In A Global Society The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility: Foreword., Susan Saab Fortney

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Thompson/Mcnulty Memo Internal Investigations: Ethical Concerns Of The Deputized Counsel The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility: Essay., Colin P. Marks

St. Mary's Law Journal

Outside counsel who conduct internal investigations for corporate clients have always faced ethical concerns, especially when interviewing employees. Generally, a carefully crafted blanket statement at the beginning of the interview explaining outside counsel's role was sufficient to address these concerns. However, recent charging policies adopted by the Department of Justice ("DOJ") have drastically changed the rules. These policies, articulated in what is now commonly referred to as the "Thompson Memo," after the author and then Deputy General Larry Thompson, allowed prosecutors to consider factors such as waivers of the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections and whether the company provides legal …

Enforceability Of General Advance Waivers Of Conflicts Of Interest The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility., Nathan M. Crystal

St. Mary's Law Journal

Conflicts of interest among clients present some of the most pervasive ethical problems lawyers face. In many instances the affected clients may consent to a conflict. Under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, for consent to be effective, it must be “informed” and must be “confirmed in writing.” Informed consent to such conflict is often referred to as a “waiver” of the conflict. Many law firms have begun seeking “general advance waivers” of conflicts of interest. The ethical rules did not deal with the issue of advance waiver until 2002. Both Model Rules and the Restatement of the Law …

The Word And The Law, James B. White

Georgia Law Review

The Word and the Law is an extraordinary combination of law, personal statement, literary criticism, and theology. In a sense its central question is whether it is possible to have a life in the law that is good, and the answer is yes-yes, though not at all easy. I have often suggested it as reading to students who are worried about the profession they have chosen, and they frequently return to me with deep thanks for the introduction. Milner's commitment throughout is not to abstraction or theory or generalization, but to particular realities. Partly for this reason he begins the …

Case For Less Secrecy In Lawyer Discipline, The, Leslie Levin

Faculty Articles and Papers

This article looks at the problems created by a lawyer discipline process that continues to be conducted mostly in secret. The vast majority of the 125,000 discipline complaints received annually are disposed of without an opportunity for the public to observe the process or the outcome of complaints. Heavy reliance on confidential dispositions - either through private sanctions or diversion programs - keeps most information about lawyer misconduct a secret from the public. As a result, clients are often injured by lawyers who have previously engaged in misconduct, little is known about the extent of recidivism among disciplined lawyers, and …

Clinical Genesis In Miami, Anthony V. Alfieri, Maryanne Stanganelli, Jessi Tamayo, Wendi Adelson

Articles

No abstract provided.

Ethical Codes And Cultural Context: Ensuring Legal Ethics In The Global Law Firm, Laurence Etherington, Robert Lee

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

There are doubtless many practical and professional problems that arise in the global legal practice, but this paper suggests that not least of these are issues of legal ethics, in part generated by the global context and not easily amenable to resolution by reference to any single code within the "home" or "host" jurisdiction. For example, there may be difficulties in isolating precisely what those ethical obligations might comprise. These obligations might be rooted in the requirements of local law, but they might arise equally from the values and expectations of the client, or from other lawyers whether inside or …

The Legal Profession's Failure To Discipline Unethical Prosecutors, Angela J. Davis

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article explores the legal profession's failure to hold prosecutors accountable for misconduct and other ethical violations. Part I introduces the piece, providing several examples of prosecutorial power and abuse in the criminal justice system. Part II discusses prosecutorial misconduct and the inadequacy of current legal remedies. Part III argues that the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility have not provided adequate guidance to prosecutors, and that the disciplinary process has not been effective in disciplining prosecutors when they have abused their power and discretion. Part IV contends that the disbarment of Mike Nifong – the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse …

Increasing Law Students' Effectiveness When Representing Traumatized Clients: A Case Study Of The Katherine & George Alexander Community Law Center, Lynette Parker

Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the discussion of representation of traumatized clients through a detailed case study of the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC). First, it will discuss the issues that arise when students represent traumatized clients. This section will focus on the goals for training effective representation, the importance of such training, and the issues of duty of care and professional responsibility. Second, it will review the mechanics of training and mentoring law students who work with traumatized clients. This section will include a brief introduction to KGACLC and outline KGACLC's case acceptance policy, its early attempts …

Some Realism About Professionalism: Core Values, Legality, And Corporate Law Practice, Christopher J. Whelan

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Negotiator-As-Professional: Understanding The Competing Interests Of A Representative Negotiator, Trevor C. W. Farrow

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Spam (Supremacy Clause, Public Forums, And Mailings): The Fifth Circuit's Interpretation Of The Can-Span Act In White Buffalo V. University Of Texas Comment., Jason A. Smith

St. Mary's Law Journal

Unsolicited email advertisement, spam, has been a problem of the internet since its inception. In the face of this onslaught, users have fought back with a variety of methods, involving filtering software. Users have also resorted to the courts, suing spammers under the “trespass to chattels” theory. Not all courts have agreed with this theory, as there is often little evidence of the owner’s use of their servers being adversely affected by a digital trespass. While the states were the first to address overwhelming amount of spam, Congress address the issue with the first nationwide anti-spam legislation, the CAN-SPAM Act. …

International Legal Malpractice: Not Only Will The Dog Eventually Bark, It Will Also Bite The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility: Essay., Ethan S. Burger

St. Mary's Law Journal

The internationalization of legal practice presents numerous issues for lawyers, such as obtaining qualifications to practice law in foreign jurisdictions and developing the necessary knowledge. Different and possibly conflicting notions of standards of care and professional responsibility will arise. Globalization is widely regarded as the principal driving force in international economic and political relations. From the standpoint of business activity there are myriad ways to assess the impact of globalization. These include tracking rates of exchange, observing altered methods, or examining how attitudes and information has changed. Globalization has increased the demand for specialized accounting and legal services connected with …