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 …

Narrowly Restricting "Clearly Established" Civil Liberties: The Constitutional Ramifications Of A Family Member's [Under] Protected Federal Privacy Rights In The Dissemination Of Postmortem Images In Marsh V. County Of San Diego, Mahira Siddiqui

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Marsh, the Ninth Circuit held that a prosecutor who photocopied and kept a child's autopsy photograph (and after retirement gave the copy to the press) was entitled to qualified immunity. The court reasoned that there was no "clearly established" law to inform the prosecutor that his earlier conduct in making and keeping the photocopy was unlawful. In so holding, the Ninth Circuit relied on American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sullivan, which held that a plaintiff must prove that he or she was "deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States."' Moreover, …

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 …

Legal Profession, William J. Riegger

Cal Law Trends and Developments

No abstract provided.

Legal Profession, William J. Riegger

Cal Law Trends and Developments

During 1967, the California courts made decisions dealing with admission to the bar, discipline, the statute of limitations in legal malpractice, and just compensation. The legislature also affected the legal profession by expanding the power of local government to employ private counsel, by changing the rules governing admission of out-of-state attorneys to the bar, and by changing certain fee provisions.

The California Supreme Court decided several important bar admission cases. In Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners and March v. Committee of Bar Examiners, the Committee of Bar Examiners made value judgments and, in effect, by refusing certification, attempted to …

Domestically Violent Attorneys: Resuscitating And Transforming A Dusty, Old Punitive Approach To Attorney Discipline Into A Viable Prescription For Rehabilitation, Ignascio G. Camarena Ii

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment will discuss (1) the prevalence of domestic violence in America, (2) the governmental responses to domestic violence, and (3) preserving the integrity of the legal profession. This Comment will then focus on how disciplinary courts have treated domestically violent attorneys. Part III examines the murky judicial approach to disciplining domestically violent attorneys, and Part IV criticizes that approach. Finally, Part V sets forth a proposal to cure the ill effects of the current approach, by injecting a greater degree of uniformity, ease, predictability and certainty into the disciplinary process.

Standing Committee On Discipline V. Yagman: The Ninth Circuit Provides Substantial First Amendment Protection For Attorney Criticism Of The Judiciary, Jeffrey A. White

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Standing Committee on Discipline of the United States District Court for the Central District of California v. Yagman, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an attorney who publicly criticized a federal judge did not commit sanctionable conduct. In determining whether the attorney, Stephen Yagman, had violated a local rule of professional conduct for lawyers, the court applied a "reasonable attorney" standard, rather than a subjective malice standard. The court held that Yagman's statements, in light of this higher standard, did not violate the rule's prohibition against impugning the integrity of the court. The Ninth Circuit also held …

Lawyers, Clients And Sex: Breaking The Silence On The Ethical And Liability Issues, Caroline Forell

Golden Gate University Law Review

This paper examines the existing case law concerning attorney-client sexual relationships and the current ethical rules which may be implicated. Because of the inadequacies in the present system, and the serious harm caused to both women clients and the Bar by these inadequacies, I propose changes in how lawyers regulate themselves and how others are compensated for lawyer's sexual misconduct.

Toward A New Ethical Standard Regulating The Private Practice Of Former Government Lawyers, Barbara G. Mance

Golden Gate University Law Review

This comment advocates the elimination of the "appearance of impropriety" as a legal and ethical standard governing the disqualification of former government lawyers and urges the ABA to adopt Rule LIP of the proposed Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Model Rule 1.11, Successive Government and Private Employment, provides a comprehensible, precise ethical rule regulating the post-government practice of lawyers in conformity with federal statute and regulation.

The Right To Effective Counsel In Criminal Trials: Judicial Standards And The California Bar Association Response, Marlys Fredrickson Huez, Leonard D. Weiler

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Winters V. Cook, 489 F.2d 174 (1973) - Authority Of Defense Attorney To Make A Binding Waiver Of The Client's Rights, Bertrand Leblanc Ii, Virginia Mcconnell

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Developments In California Private Legal Services Plans, Ronald E. Braley

Golden Gate University Law Review

Authors: Ronald E. Braley, et al.

Contingent Fees In California After Fracasse V. Brent, Brian F. Gill, George A. Mealy

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Relative Importance Of Skills Used By Attorneys, Robert A.D. Schwartz

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Integrity And Ethics In Western Adjudicatory Systems : Toward A Standard, Ruth S. Astle

Theses and Dissertations

As a global community comes closer to a reality in which there is an international rule of law, a borderless standard of ethics and integrity in adjudication must be developed. Since the beginning of structured adjudication of disputes, ethics and integrity have been an integral part of the process. Even in biblical law, ethics and integrity are emphasized. Now, that many legal disputes, especially in the commercial arena including business and trade disputes, are being adjudicated between and among many different states and individuals from many different states, with many different formal and informal adjudicatory systems, the need for ethics …

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.