Law Commons^™

The Moral Character Evaluation: Proving That Your Past Does Not Define Your Future, Allyson Mccain

GGU Law Review Blog

To the extent that the character and fitness evaluation continues to exclude those candidates who have not shown remorse or rehabilitation, it remains essential to ensuring the integrity of the legal profession. However, it is unfair to presume that a blemish on an applicant’s record suggests a lack of good moral character, until proven otherwise. Past mistakes and errors in judgment do not automatically indicate that an individual is unfit to practice law. Nor does the lack of “sanctionable conduct” in one’s past conclusively prove that the individual will uphold the integrity of the profession.

Who Should Be Our Moral Compass Now?, Rachel A. Van Cleave

Publications

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers conducted a survey of over 27,000 lawyers across the country about the qualities, skills and competencies necessary for new lawyers. Almost 73 percent said having a "strong moral compass" is necessary for a lawyer to be successful in the short term. Only 17 (out of 147) other skills, competencies and characteristics, received a higher percentage of votes. Included among these were "treat others with courtesy and respect" (91.9 percent), act with "integrity and trustworthiness" (92.3 percent), and "honor commitments" (93.9 percent).

The full results of the survey have not been published, but were presented to a small …

Shades Of Enron: The Legal Ethics Implications Of The General Motors Scandal, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

Here we go again. "Where were the Lawyers?" is becoming a predicable refrain in response to any wide-ranging corporate scandal. General Motors is battling a rising deluge of lawsuits, investigations, and government fines in the wake of its February 2014 recall of millions of cars for a safety defect. The defect, a faulty ignition switch, is allegedly responsible for 13 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

The sorrow of the tragic loss of life in this case is now joined by growing public anger about a cover-up at the company to avoid liability for the defect. GM's engineers and managers may …

Herrera Names Peter Keane To San Francisco Ethics Commission, Matt Dorsey

Articles About Faculty

City Attorney Dennis Herrera today named law professor and law school dean emeritus Peter Keane to the San Francisco Ethics Commission. Keane brings a wealth of experience in law and government ethics issues to the five-member panel, which is charged with serving citizens, public officials and political candidates through education and enforcement of ethics laws and regulations.

Early Disclosure Would Gut Judicial Complaint System, Susan Rutberg, Peter Keane

Publications

No abstract provided.

Engaging The Legal Academy In Disaster Response, Rachel A. Van Cleave, Davida Finger, Laila Hlass, Anne S. Hornsby, Susan S. Kuo

Publications

More than six years ago, volunteer lawyers, law students, and law faculty from the Gulf Coast and around the country provided assistance to communities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the systemic failures of their own government. The volunteers provided much-needed support at a time when existing legal institutions were completely overwhelmed. Through their participation, the law students learned important firsthand lessons about the lack of equality in society, the possibility of redress through law, and the limitations of law.

Disasters present challenges and opportunities for law schools and other academic institutions with social justice missions because they expose …

Ideologies Of Professionalism And The Politics Of Self-Regulation In The California State Bar, William T. Gallagher

Publications

This Article is a case study of the California State Bar lawyer discipline system in crisis. The Bar's lawyer discipline system is the official state mechanism for regulating the professional conduct of California's more than 100,000 lawyers. The State Bar in California self-regulates as an adjunct of the judicial branch of government. The State Bar operates in this capacity as a quasi-governmental body while at the same time functioning as a professional organization, of which one role is to represent the collective interests of California lawyers. This is truly an extraordinary status. Unlike most other occupational groups, the legal profession …

Ethics In Government, Joint Legislative Committee

California Joint Committees

With the passage of Proposition 112 (SCA 32) on June 5, 1990, the voters have acknowledged their support for an ethics reform package that is tied to the creation of a Citizens Compensation Commission, which shall have the exclusive power to set the salaries and all fringe benefits, except retirement, for Members of the Legislature and other related state officers. It also prohibits Members and other elected state officers from receiving any honoraria and imposes restrictions on gifts, lobbying activity, and the sources of income of these officers.

Libarian V. State Bar Of California [Dissent], Jesse W. Carter

Jesse Carter Opinions

Attorney attempted to commit extortion when he sent a letter which threatened that his client, if not paid, would contact the district attorney to file charges of perjury, and the attorney was suspended from practice of law for six months.