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Conflicts Of Interest In Legal Representation: Should The Appearance Of Impropriety Rule Be Eliminated In New Jersey - Or Revived Everywhere Else , Bruce A. Green
Conflicts Of Interest In Legal Representation: Should The Appearance Of Impropriety Rule Be Eliminated In New Jersey - Or Revived Everywhere Else , Bruce A. Green
Faculty Scholarship
Sixty-five years ago, an American Bar Association (ABA) committee interpreting the Canons of Professional Ethics (Canons) concluded that it would be professionally improper for a part-time prosecutor to agree to defend an individual in a civil action while simultaneously prosecuting him on felony charges. The committee acknowledged that the representation of conflicting interests is ordinarily proper with the respective clients' consent. But it said that client consent does not suffice in a case involving a public officer, who has a duty "to be and remain above all suspicion, even at personal financial sacrifice." It concluded that such "[a]n attorney should …
Zealous Representation Bound: The Intersection Of The Ethical Codes And The Criminal Law, Bruce A. Green
Zealous Representation Bound: The Intersection Of The Ethical Codes And The Criminal Law, Bruce A. Green
Faculty Scholarship
Professional codes adopted by states and based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Model Code of Professional Responsibility govern lawyers' conduct. The ethical codes, however, fail to address many ethical questions confronting lawyers. In this Article, Professor Bruce Green highlights the ethical codes' weaknesses, particularly as they relate to the conduct of criminal defense attorneys. As he describes, the ethical codes require advocates to represent their clients "zealously," but, at the same time, "within the bounds of the law." When the codes do not proscribe conduct that would advance their clients' causes, conscientious advocates must consider whether …