Law Commons^™

Legal Ethics And Law Reform Advocacy, Jeffrey W. Stempel

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Social activism, particularly law reform, has long been an accepted, even revered part of the lawyer’s identity. But modern developments such as nation-wide firms, the economic importance of client development, and aggressive attempts by clients to deploy attorneys as de facto, undisclosed lobbyists have put substantial pressure on the traditional vision of the attorney as a “lawyer-statesman” or someone who “checks clients at the door” when participating in law reform activities. Furthermore, law reform activism on behalf of one client (or prospective client when attorneys use their law reform lobbying as part of their marketing strategy) poses a real danger …

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 …

Lost In The Weeds Of Pot Law: The Role Of Ethics In The Movement To Legalize Marijuana, Helia Garrido Hull

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Zacharias’S Prophecy: The Federalization Of Legal Ethics Through Legislative, Court, And Agency Regulation, Daniel R. Coquillette, Judith A. Mcmorrow

Judith A. McMorrow

In his 1994 seminal article on Federalizing Legal Ethics, Prof. Fred Zacharias examined the need for a national and uniform code of ethics for attorneys. Prof. Zacharias was correct that there has been increasing pressure to federalize legal ethics, but that process is occurring not through articulation of national norms but rather through decentralized contextualization of attorney conduct norms. Federal agencies that direct securities practice, immigration, tax, patent, labor and many other areas of federal practice are increasingly supplementing state regulations to specifically regulate the attorneys who appear before their agencies. Targeted substantive federal law and treaty obligations also increasingly …

Zacharias’S Prophecy: The Federalization Of Legal Ethics Through Legislative, Court, And Agency Regulation, Daniel R. Coquillette, Judith A. Mcmorrow

Daniel R. Coquillette

In his 1994 seminal article on Federalizing Legal Ethics, Prof. Fred Zacharias examined the need for a national and uniform code of ethics for attorneys. Prof. Zacharias was correct that there has been increasing pressure to federalize legal ethics, but that process is occurring not through articulation of national norms but rather through decentralized contextualization of attorney conduct norms. Federal agencies that direct securities practice, immigration, tax, patent, labor and many other areas of federal practice are increasingly supplementing state regulations to specifically regulate the attorneys who appear before their agencies. Targeted substantive federal law and treaty obligations also increasingly …

Risks Of Violation Of Rules Of Professional Responsibility By Reason Of The Increased Disparity Among The States, Ted J. Fiflis

Publications

No abstract provided.

Choice Of Federal Or State Law For Attorneys' Professional Responsibility In Securities Matters, Ted J. Fiflis

Publications

Professional standards of duty are implicated in the federal securities laws in two types of cases: those instituted by the SEC to impose sanctions for lack of character or unethical conduct and those brought by the SEC or private parties for violations of substantive provisions of the securities laws. The question faced by Professor Fiflis is whether state or federal standards should define the duties imposed under these laws. He argues that the proper method of resolving this question is to apply an interest analysis. Analyzing the various state and federal interests leads Professor Fiflis to the conclusion that federal …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Civil Rights--Civil Rights Act of 1957 Gives Federal Court Mandatory Jurisdiction To Entertain Suit by the United States To Enjoin State Criminal Prosecution

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Conflict of Laws--Federal Tort Claims Act--Applicable Substantive Law Held To Be Whole Law of State Where Negligence Occurred

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Constitutional Law--Discrimination--Conviction for Disturbing the Peace in Lunch Counter Sit-in Held To Violate Due Process for Lack of Evidence

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Federal Courts--Erie Doctrine--Opinion Evidence Held Admissible Under Federal Rule 43(a) in Diversity Case

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Federal Courts--Federal Question Jurisdiction--Lack of Jurisdiction to Enforce Award of Airline System Board of Adjustment in Labor Dispute

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Interstate Commerce--Taxation--State Privilege Tax …