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The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Implementation Issues Panel, Staci Rosche Jan 1998

The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Implementation Issues Panel, Staci Rosche

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A distinguished panel including Shirley Traylor, Jill Boskey, Valerie Bogart and Lucy Billings will describe how they have been directly affected in implementing the restrictions that have been handed down and how they have made their lives a little bit harder.


The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Constitutional Issues Panel, Matthew Diller Jan 1998

The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Constitutional Issues Panel, Matthew Diller

Fordham Urban Law Journal

There have been three lawsuits brought that deal with these constitutional issues, two challenges to the Regulations and one opposition to a motion to withdraw, which was the VarshavskyI case that Valerie Bogart talked about. The decision in the Varshavsky case is outside. There is also a preliminary injunction decision from the case brought in Hawaii,2 of which Steve Shapiro is one of the counsel, and that decision is outside. And then, still pending is a decision on a preliminary injunction motion in a case called Velasquez,3 which was brought in the Eastern District of New York. Here to address …


The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Ethics Issues Panel, Russell G. Pearce Jan 1998

The Future Of Legal Services: Legal And Ethical Implications Of The Lsc Restrictions - Ethics Issues Panel, Russell G. Pearce

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This panel focuses on the ethical issues relating to the restrictions, and speakers include Helaine Barnett, Emily Sack, Steve Ellmann and Stephen Gillers.


The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman Jan 1993

The Big Black Man Syndrome: The Rodney King Trial And The Use Of Racial Stereotyes In The Courtroom, Lawrence Vogelman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Rodney King was portrayed as the prototypical "Big Black Man". Having recognized the existence of the Big Black Man Syndrome as a factor in the Rodney King Case, what are the moral and ethical implications of allowing defense counsel to so cleverly play upon the racial fears they evidently recognized? The issue is whether the use of racist arguments by defense counsel in a criminal trial is unethical. This essay explores the ethical consideration that come into play where a trial advocate is faced with a case where racism, homophobia, or ethnic prejudice is part of the courtroom dynamic.


The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker Jan 1993

The Need For Fair Trials Does Not Justify A Disciplinary Rule That Broadly Restricts An Attorney's Speech, Thomas Gibson, Diana Parker

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In "Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada," the Supreme Court held a Nevada law prohibiting attorneys from making extra-judicial statements that could reasonably be expected to lead to prejudiced proceedings unconstitutionally vague. The safe harbor provision of New York's restriction on extra-judicial attorney speech seems to suffer from a similar deficiency, and must therefore be amended. To cure vagueness concerns, an amended rule should pay heed to the timing of prohibited public statements by attorneys, limiting speech restrictions to the month preceding the start of the trial. The amended rule should also include a clear and present danger standard to …


Ethical Issues Arising When A Lawyer Leaves A Firm: Restrictions On Practice, Daniel J. Capra, Richard Friedman, Arthur Handler, Diana Parker Jan 1993

Ethical Issues Arising When A Lawyer Leaves A Firm: Restrictions On Practice, Daniel J. Capra, Richard Friedman, Arthur Handler, Diana Parker

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Restriction on covenants not to compete have been a long-time feature of legal practice. Rules prohibiting law firms from restricting lawyers' ability to practice or imposing penalties on lawyers that leave a firm attempt to balance the law firm's interest in survival in a competitive market with the countervailing interests of attorney mobility, and protecting clients' choice of counsel. Restrictions on covenants not to compete should be vigorously enforced, and the exception that allows for the forfeiture of retirement benefits by attorneys that choose to leave a firm should be narrowly applied to only those funds to which the departing …


State Of New York Temporary State Commission On Local Government Ethics Final Report Jan 1993

State Of New York Temporary State Commission On Local Government Ethics Final Report

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The New York Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics was constituted in 1987 in response to several ethics scandals in New York City government. The commission was tasked primarily with aiding local governments in evaluating and revising their own ethics standards, and with proposing new municipal ethics legislation for the State of New York. The commission's proposal for local ethics reform rested on the propositions that most local officials are honest and ethical; that local governments are heavily dependent on volunteers; that local government ethics must be enforced at the local level; that ethics rules must be reasonable, sensible, …


Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies Jan 1993

Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Investigations by the New York Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics has revealed serious problems in local government ethics laws. While in large part local officials behave ethically, due to lack of adequate guidance provided by existing local ethics rules, these officials are often perceived as acting unethically. The commission's investigations reveals a long list of commonplace activities by local officials that, while questionable, do not technically violate existing local ethics standards. The Model Local Ethics Law proposed by the commission, which was not seriously considered by the State legislature, would do much to clarify the bounds of ethical …


Financial Arrangements In Class Actions, And The Code Of Professional Responsibility, Daniel J. Capra, Thomas W. Jackson, John Koeltl Jan 1993

Financial Arrangements In Class Actions, And The Code Of Professional Responsibility, Daniel J. Capra, Thomas W. Jackson, John Koeltl

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Rules of Professional Conduct impose various restrictions relating to attorney fees and the payment of litigation costs, which are designed to preserve the lawyer's role as a zealous but objective advocate. Class actions stand apart from other kinds of litigation in that they are designed to promote efficiency by their combining like claims into single actions, and individual justice by their vindicating claims that if taken individually might not be economically viable. In light of these special concerns, the courts have carved out several exceptions to ordinary attorney's fees, litigation expense, and disbursement rules that they routinely apply to …


Report On The Debate Over Whether There Should Be An Exception To Confidentiality For Rectifying A Crime Or Fraud, Maria Helen Bainor, Nancy Batterman Jan 1993

Report On The Debate Over Whether There Should Be An Exception To Confidentiality For Rectifying A Crime Or Fraud, Maria Helen Bainor, Nancy Batterman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct fail to provide lawyers with adequate guidance for dealing with situations in which a client has used the lawyer's services to perpetuate a fraud. He Model Rules do not discuss confidentiality in cases of client-committed fraud at all, and the provided exceptions to the confidentiality requirement do little to help attorney's deal with past frauds committed by a client with the unwitting aid of the attorney. The Model Rules should be amended to authorize disclosure of client confidences to rectify a crime or fraud when the lawyer's services have been used in the commission …


Lawyers In The Public Service And The Role Of Law Schools, Frank J. Macchiarola, Joseph Scanlon Jan 1992

Lawyers In The Public Service And The Role Of Law Schools, Frank J. Macchiarola, Joseph Scanlon

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Law schools should recognize and maximize their opportunity to work in public service. Law schools have an obligation to recognize a causal link between legal education and value learned through the law school experience and the tremendous effect that this training can have on the community. This essay examines the history of the traditional law school curriculum and poses practical and philosophical suggestions for the improvement of existing course work towards the public good. Next, the essay examines the community beyond the walls of the school as a source of instruction and finally, argues that a more expansive definition of …


State Ethical Codes And Federal Practice: Emerging Conflicts And Suggestions For Reform, Stephen B. Burbank Jan 1992

State Ethical Codes And Federal Practice: Emerging Conflicts And Suggestions For Reform, Stephen B. Burbank

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The standards for resolving putative conflicts between federal laws are not always clear, and neither for that matter is the standard for determining what con- stitutes a federal law capable of superseding effect. The technique of setting federal norms of professional conduct on a decentralized basis by borrowing or incorporating state norms is increasingly trouble- some to the extent that the borrowed state norms are disuniform and that they are being put to multiple remedial purposes. Federal legisla- tion preempting state law of professional conduct is conceivable but hardly likely, particularly as the norms are pressed into duty for pur- …


Integrity And Ethical Standards In New York State Government: Final Report To The Governor, New York State Commission On Government Integrity Jan 1991

Integrity And Ethical Standards In New York State Government: Final Report To The Governor, New York State Commission On Government Integrity

Fordham Urban Law Journal

September 1990 letter from the New York State Commission on Government Integrity to Governor Mario M. Cuomo. “This letter constitutes the final report of the Commission on Government Integrity. The Commission was created by Executive Order 88.1 and directed to examine a wide variety of subjects concerning government integrity in New York State. Since its inception, the Commission has submitted 20 reports containing specific recommendations for reform of New York laws, regulations and procedures. Some of these recommendations can be implemented by executive order; others require action by the New York State Legislature. Most of the recommendations would impose no …


Prosecutorial Ethics: The Case For The Per Se Rule, Kara S. Donahue Jan 1991

Prosecutorial Ethics: The Case For The Per Se Rule, Kara S. Donahue

Fordham Urban Law Journal

“The integrity of the legal system is essential to public confidence in government. Without public confidence, the rule of law loses its meaning. The prosecutor is often the most visible participant in the criminal justice system, and thus, even the appearance of impropriety in the prosecutor's behavior erodes the public trust. He has a duty to seek justice and truth, not only to convict. This duty creates a dual role for the prosecutor: he is both an advocate seeking to obtain convictions and a minister of justice attempting to discover the truth. The public expects him to fulfill these functions …


Foreword: Legal Ethics And Government Integrity, Cyrus Vance Jan 1991

Foreword: Legal Ethics And Government Integrity, Cyrus Vance

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This foreword addresses "the need to uphold and maintain a high level of integrity in both the legal profession and in government." The author discusses the roles of self-regulation and ethical standards for ensuring integrity in the legal and governmental fields. "Public trust and confidence in lawyers and government officials alike require that members of each group strive to maintain the highest ethical standards. This issue of the Urban Law Journal contributes to our thinking about the need for and problems of preserving both government and professional integrity."


Reflections On Chairing The New York State Commission On Government Integrity, John D. Feerick Jan 1991

Reflections On Chairing The New York State Commission On Government Integrity, John D. Feerick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

"The New York State Commission on Government Integrity (Commission) was born from a sense of crisis. A series of corruption scandals in New York State, involving officials at all levels of government, produced widespread cynicism and distrust of government and created a perception that unethical, if not illegal, practices were rampant throughout the State. The scandals implicated borough presidents of New York City, political party chairmen, municipal officials, members of the State Legislature, judges and a host of other officials." Following the New York State Commission on Government Integrity's final report to Governor Mario Cuomo in September 1990, Chairman John …


Restoring The Public Trust: A Blueprint For Government Integrity, New York State Commission On Government Integrity Jan 1991

Restoring The Public Trust: A Blueprint For Government Integrity, New York State Commission On Government Integrity

Fordham Urban Law Journal

September 1990 report of the New York State Commission on Government Integrity calling for "sweeping reforms to our laws to safeguard the public sector from the pressures brought to bear by private sector special interests and to reduce the temptation of officials to abuse their trust." In this "blueprint," the Commission identified several aspects of state government requiring legal and ethical reform, including: - campaign finance contribution limits, disclosure requirements, the public funding option, and ineffective enforcement by the State Board of Elections; - political influence in the judicial selection process; - limitations of the Ethics in Government Act; - …


The Long Process Of Change: The 1990 Amendments To The New York Code Of Professional Responsibility, Marjorie E. Gross Jan 1991

The Long Process Of Change: The 1990 Amendments To The New York Code Of Professional Responsibility, Marjorie E. Gross

Fordham Urban Law Journal

“The purposes of this Article are to describe the significant changes to the 1970 (New York) Code (of Professional Responsibility) and to give a firsthand account of the amendment process. Part I explains the process by which the Appellate Divisions adopt Disciplinary Rules promulgated by the New York State Bar Association. Part II discusses the specific amendments to the 1970 Code which became effective September 1, 1990. Part III summarizes the overall results of the amendments to the Code. “The principal changes reflected in the 1990 Code include: making a lawyer subject to discipline for unlawfully discriminating in the practice …


Law School's Pro Bono Role: A Duty To Require Student Public Service, Frederick J. Martin Iii Jan 1989

Law School's Pro Bono Role: A Duty To Require Student Public Service, Frederick J. Martin Iii

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The immense legal needs of the indigent are not being met. Pro bono work is the responsibility of every lawyer, but most lawyers do not do any pro bono work. The author argues that law schools have a responsibility not only to nurture student interest in pro bono work but also to develop students’ abilities to provide legal services to the indigent. The author proposes that law schools require students to participate in programs that provide legal services to the poor, either through a private organization or through a clinical program. The author contends that the latter method would be …


The Ethical Dilemma Of Campaigning For Judicial Office: A Proposed Solution Jan 1986

The Ethical Dilemma Of Campaigning For Judicial Office: A Proposed Solution

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Candidates for judicial office looked to the Canons of Judicial Ethics for the appropriate behavior expected of a candidate during a judicial campaign. Canons 30 and 32 require candidates to remain free from an appearance of influence by those who have contributed to the campaign. The difficulty in complying with the need to raise money and to remain free from the appearance of influence led to the adoption of the Code of Judicial Conduct in 1972. Canon 7B(2) bars candidates from solicitation and acceptance of campaign contributions. The Note examines the ambiguities surrounding Canon 7B(2), and conducts a survey of …


A Case For Increased Disclosure, Deborah Abramovsky Jan 1985

A Case For Increased Disclosure, Deborah Abramovsky

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The confidentiality rule is important but not absolute. An attorney must weigh his obligations to his client against his obligations to the profession and to the community as a whole. Reasonable certainty of the existence of potential danger should create a duty to reveal client secrets, and thus, when an attorney learns of an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm to a third party from his client, disclosure should be mandatory. This type of limited exception would not interfere with the client's constitutional rights or with the orderly administration of justice. The policy behind such an exception, i.e. …


A Case For Increased Confidentiality, Abraham Abramovsky Jan 1985

A Case For Increased Confidentiality, Abraham Abramovsky

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is a cornerstone of the American legal system. In order to provide effective representation to a client, an attorney must be informed of all the relevant facts, including clients' indiscretions and crimes committed or contemplated by them. To draft effective motions, affidavits, etc., the attorney often needs information that only the client can provide; this same reasoning applies to conducting an effective cross-examination and forming an appropriate trial strategy. In addition, outside the criminal field, an attorney advising a corporate client must also know relevant data. Vital constitutional rights will be lost if lawyers …


Legal Ethics: Discretion And Utility In Model Rule 1.6, Charles A. Kelbley Jan 1985

Legal Ethics: Discretion And Utility In Model Rule 1.6, Charles A. Kelbley

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No other profession requires practitioners to identify so closely and completely with the interests and confidences of their clients, as in the legal profession. Unlike doctors, priests, rabbis and other professionals, the lawyer is an adviser but also an advocate. Rule 1.6 is a major flaw in the legal profession's history of self-discipline. This rule fails the test of logic because the concept of discretion which it reflects is self-contradictory. This rule is a crude form of utilitarianism and should be reformulated to require disclosure whenever clients have no right to confidentiality and their conduct would constitute unjustified aggression or …


The Confidentiality Rule: A Philosophical Perspective With Reference To Jewish Law And Ethics, Gordon Tucker Jan 1985

The Confidentiality Rule: A Philosophical Perspective With Reference To Jewish Law And Ethics, Gordon Tucker

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Analyzing Rule 1.6 of the Model Rules from a Jewish perspective can help solve some of the conflicts, which have arisen around this particular rule of professional responsibility. In sum, when a lawyer is faced with a potential crime that will likely seriously injury life, limb, or property, an attorney should disclose the information, which he believes will prevent this crime from occurring. While some sources of the confidentiality rule stem from the American legal system, others stem from more general ethical principles. Three such sources of the rule are: the attorney-client contract, the constitutional guarantees stemming from the Fifth …


Remarks Delivered On The Occasion Of The Presentation Of The Fordham Stein Award To Judge Edward Weinfeld, John D. Feerick Jan 1985

Remarks Delivered On The Occasion Of The Presentation Of The Fordham Stein Award To Judge Edward Weinfeld, John D. Feerick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In the aftermath of a very difficult period for the conscience and reputation of the legal profession, the Fordham Stein Award was endowed for the purpose of providing the profession and society with a sterling example of professional integrity and leadership. The mandate was to search the profession nationwide each year and to select a person whose selfless contribution to the public good exemplified the quiet performance of thousands of others whose dedicated work adds life, vigor and substance to our democracy. In 1985, Fordham Law School awarded the Stein Award to Judge Edward Weinfeld. This article describes the award …


Address By Judge Edward Weinfeld, Edward Weinfeld Jan 1985

Address By Judge Edward Weinfeld, Edward Weinfeld

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This is a transcript of Judge Edward Weinfeld's acceptance of the 1985 Fordham Stein Award.


A Critique Of Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, William R. Meagher Jan 1976

A Critique Of Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, William R. Meagher

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Monroe Freedman’s book is largely a reiteration of his unorthodox views, previously aired in various law reviews and other professional publications, regarding ethical standards that should govern the conduct of the trial advocate. Since his positions contradict the behavioral principles codified in two publications of the American Bar Association—the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Standards Relating to the Defense Function—the author adopts the apologetic strategy of impugning both the credibility and the viability of these precepts in order to justify his contrary stance and to clear the way for its general acceptance.


Attorneys Must Not Enter Partnership Agreements Prohibiting Themselves From Representing Former Clients Upon Termination Of Partnership. Dwyer V. Jung, 133 N.J. Super. 343, 336 A.2d 498 (Ch. 1975), Appeal Docketed, No. 3378-74, App. Div., June 18, 1975., Robert L. Schonfeld Jan 1975

Attorneys Must Not Enter Partnership Agreements Prohibiting Themselves From Representing Former Clients Upon Termination Of Partnership. Dwyer V. Jung, 133 N.J. Super. 343, 336 A.2d 498 (Ch. 1975), Appeal Docketed, No. 3378-74, App. Div., June 18, 1975., Robert L. Schonfeld

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Three attorneys entered into a partnership agreement for the practice of law. Their agreement included a provision that assigned the partnership's insurance carrier clients to individual partners upon the termination of the partnership and restricted the partners from doing business with a client designated as that of another partner for a period of five years. Of these insurance carrier clients, 154 were assigned to the defendant while five were allotted to the plaintiffs. After the partnership was dissolved, the plaintiffs sought a judicial accounting. The defendant counterclaimed, contending that the plaintiffs violated the restrictive covenant of the original partnership agreement …


A Public Citizens’S Action Manual , Lisa H. Blitman Jan 1974

A Public Citizens’S Action Manual , Lisa H. Blitman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The book proposes that court action should only be used as a last result and offers alternatives. It encourages the citizen to know the truth about various systems in our government and society and offers the reader information that can be used by the action oriented citizen to improve quality of life. Ross urges citizens to fight and become public interest advocates to seek change. Ralph Nader writes the introduction and explains that institutions of government and business are too large and distinct and that with a little help and interest from citizen-activists, government and businesses can be made ot …