Law Commons^™

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023 and discusses developments with respect to attorney discipline, bar admission and readmission, malpractice and other civil claims against lawyers, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, attorney’s liens, judicial conduct, disqualification and withdrawal of counsel, contempt, proposed formal advisory opinions of the State Bar of Georgia Formal Advisory Opinion Board, and proposed amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022. The Article discusses developments with respect to attorney discipline, bar admission, malpractice and other civil claims, ineffective assistance of counsel, disqualification of counsel, contempt, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial conduct, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and formal advisory opinions of the State Bar of Georgia Formal Advisory Opinion Board.

Fostering Equity And Accountability In Georgia’S Criminal Legal System Through Conviction Integrity Reforms, E. Addison Gantt, Meagan R. Hurley

Mercer Law Review

An often-quoted excerpt from Berger v. United States sums up the role of a prosecutor in the criminal legal system. The context is the federal system, but it applies across the board. It begins by explaining the duty of a prosecutor: to represent the sovereign, “whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.”2 Then, it turns to the real-world application of that role, instructing that prosecutors should present their cases with …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021. The Article discusses developments concerning attorney discipline, bar admission and reinstatement, malpractice and other civil claims, ineffective assistance of counsel, disqualification of counsel and conflicts of interest, judicial conduct and recusal, attorney’s fees and liens, contempt, formal advisory opinions, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and one miscellaneous matter.

Sword And Shield: The Georgia Supreme Court Adopts Third-Party Waiver Of Attorney-Client Privilege, D. Garrett White

Mercer Law Review

The attorney-client privilege is generally held out as a sacred instrument (a shield) reserved for clients and used by attorneys for the benefit of those clients. Persons untrained in the law tend to have a basic understanding of what the attorney-client privilege is and can often explain in a rudimentary sense what it protects. What few non-lawyers realize, however, is that the privilege is not absolute, and is waivable under certain, limited, circumstances. Now, it seems that shield is losing its integrity in the realm of legal malpractice.

In January 2020, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in Hill, Kertscher & …

Partisanship And The Attorney General Of The United States: Timely Lessons From Edward Levi And Griffin Bell About Repairing A Politicized Department Of Justice, Patrick E. Longan, James P. Fleissner

Mercer Law Review

The proper role of the Attorney General of the United States has been much in the news in recent years. William Barr received scathing criticism for how he handled the Mueller Report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election; the sentencing of President Trump’s associate, Roger Stone; the charges against President Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn; and numerous other matters.

Mr. Barr’s critics accused him of perverting his office from one that served the rule of law in a nonpartisan fashion into one that catered to President Trump’s personal and political desires. Many of these critiques condemned Barr’s …

Civil Unrest And The Role Of The Attorney General: A Comparison Of Ramsey Clark To William Barr, Lonnie T. Brown Jr.

Mercer Law Review

This article compares and contrasts the manner in which former Attorneys General Ramsey Clark and William Barr dealt with racially-motivated civil unrest. Clark faced this challenge multiple times during the tumultuous late 1960s. Barr, on the other hand, dealt with such unrest in 1992 and again in 2020 following the police-killing of George Floyd. The respective strategies taken by these two men reveal much about their personal values and how those may have, rightly or wrongly, shaped their perspectives on the attorney general’s role. More importantly, Clark’s and Barr’s conflicting approaches in carrying out their responsibilities in addressing social discord …

Serving A Lawless President, William R. Casto

Mercer Law Review

What does an Attorney General do when confronted with a lawless President? At first glance, the answer is easy, but on second thought, a realistic answer is complicated. The answer is complicated because the phrase “lawless president” is not necessarily pejorative. In fact, western leaders have always exercised a prerogative power to throw the law overboard when they see fit. Some of our greatest Presidents have followed this path. Thomas Jefferson did, as did Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.

So what does the President’s Attorney General do? The law and principles of professional responsibility offer a clear answer to the …

Foreward, Patrick Longan

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

History, Norms And Conflicting Loyalties In The Office Of Attorney General, Nancy Virginia Baker

Mercer Law Review

A sincere thank you to Patrick Longan and Mercer Law Review for organizing this timely and important symposium on ethics and professionalism in the Office of the U.S. Attorney General. It is such a fascinating office to study, at the nexus of law and politics.

I was a college undergraduate during Watergate, when I first became aware there was an office of attorney general. In graduate school, my interest in it piqued when Edwin Meese was nominated by Ronald Reagan. From then on, I have focused my research on the U.S. Attorney General, especially the duality inherent in the office. …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2019, to May 31, 2020. The Article discusses developments with respect to attorney discipline, ineffective assistance of counsel, bar admission, disqualification of counsel, judicial conduct, malpractice and other civil claims, contempt, several miscellaneous cases, formal advisory opinions (State Bar of Georgia and the American Bar Association), and amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2018–May 31, 2019.1 The Article discusses attorney discipline, ineffective assistance of counsel, bar admission, judicial ethics, malpractice, several miscellaneous cases involving legal ethics, and actions of the Formal Advisory Opinion Board.

• Lawyer Discipline
• Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
• Bar Admission
• Judicial Conduct
• Malpractice
• Miscellaneous Cases
• Formal Advisory Opinions

A Penal Colony For Bad Lawyers, Bennett L. Gershman

Mercer Law Review

The concept of "disruptive innovation" is vague. Imagining the idea of lawyer "disruption" might conjure a scene from Al Pacino's aggressive role in the 1979 film And Justice for All 9 or embody the tradition of lawyers courageously representing unpopular clients, sometimes placing their lives at risk in courtrooms and on streets. But the panel, I discovered, was more interested in the concept of disruption as descriptive of radical departures from conventional lawyering and conventional discipline.

Recently, as I walked along the narrow cobblestoned streets of Prague--the same streets that Franz Kafka traversed while he was consumed by thoughts of …

The Politics Of Ethics, Laurie L. Levensn

Mercer Law Review

Prosecutors hate being told what to do. As "ministers of justice," they feel imbued with a moral compass that rarely, if ever, needs tweaking by outsiders. Their mission to protect society and the Constitution provides sufficient guidance. Being told how to be "ethical" is downright insulting for attorneys who already perceive themselves as wearing the white hat. Efforts to create ethical standards to guide a prosecutor's work may be perceived as little more than an unnecessary intrusion upon the prosecutor's independence and personal sense of justice. For some prosecutors, it is unwarranted meddling into the prosecution's business. As former Attorney …

The Bend At The End: What Lawyers Can Learn About Disruptions And Innovations In Criminal Defense Practice From Market Analysis, Donald F. Tibbs, Justin Hollinger

Mercer Law Review

In the world of stock market analysis, there is one certainty: the stock market is unpredictable. It acts with a will of its own, and despite experts' attempts at market forecast, no single person or machine can accurately predict the highs and lows of each day. Nonetheless, market experts extol new techniques; develop computer algorithms; and attach interesting monikers, such as Stochastics, MACD, and Bollinger Bands. But, in the end, they all succumb to the same rule: the unpredictability of the market suggests that no trading strategy is 100%, without fail, perfect every single trade.

That said, however, there is …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This survey covers the period from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017.1 The Article discusses attorney discipline, ineffective assistance of counsel, legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, disqualification, judicial ethics, several miscellaneous cases involving legal ethics, opinions of the Formal Advisory Opinion Board, and amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

Educational Interventions To Cultivate Professional Identity In Law Students: Introduction, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

On October 7, 2016, the Mercer Law Review co-sponsored the 17th Annual Georgia Symposium on Professionalism and Ethics. The Georgia symposia on professionalism and ethics have all been made possible by the Honorable Hugh Lawson, Senior United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia. In 1999, Judge Lawson oversaw the settlement of a matter that involved allegations of litigation misconduct, and as part of the settlement four of Georgia's law schools each received an endowment to fund annual symposia dedicated to ethics and professionalism. The symposium series began in 2001 and rotates among Mercer University, Georgia State University, …

17th Annual Georgia Symposium On Ethics And Professionalism: October 6, 2016, Benjamin Grimes

Mercer Law Review

Professional identity is a mercurial thing. It is a combination of skills, values, and ways of thinking that identifies us to others and forms the basis of our understanding of ourselves. But why should we endeavor to affirmatively instill a certain identity-or to provide the seeds of professional identity-in our students and young attorneys? To what end is identity useful, what elements are important, and how do we do it?

Unlike the many participants in this Symposium and contributors to this issue of the Mercer Law Review, I am neither an academic nor a remarkable practitioner. I have taught …

Educational Programs For Professional Identity Formation: The Role Of Social Science Research, Muriel J. Bebeau, Stephen J. Thoma, Clark D. Cunningham

Mercer Law Review

This Article on the use of social science research to design, implement, and assess educational programs for the development of professional identity has its origins in the opening presentation made at the 17th Annual Georgia Symposium on Professionalism and Legal Ethics, held on October 7, 2016 at Mercer Law School on the topic "Educational Interventions to Cultivate Professional Identity in Law Students." The Mercer Symposium invited speakers from a variety of disciplines to address a series of questions regarding the feasibility and worth of establishing an educational intervention and assessment program to facilitate professional identity formation.

This Article begins with …

The Case For The Four Component Model Vs. Moral Foundations Theory: A Perspective From Moral Psychology, Elizabeth C. Vozzola

Mercer Law Review

The 2016 Mercer Law Review Symposium asked speakers to address some aspect of three organizing questions about educational interventions designed to cultivate professional identity in law students. The Symposium's first proposed question of whether it is worthwhile to establish such interventions seemed largely rhetorical. The third question asked about appropriate assessment of such interventions and will be addressed in this issue by leaders in the field of legal ethics and professional program assessment. Hence, as a teacher and psychologist whose primary role in the field has been to synthesize theory and research, I chose to question the second guiding question …

Professional Identity Formation Throughout The Curriculum: Lessons From Clergy Education, Larry A. Golemon

Mercer Law Review

Clergy education is undergoing radical transformation in the United States due to changes in the profession, the religious communities served, and the larger landscape of higher education. Many reformers of theological education question whether the education of pastors, priests, and rabbis should be considered "professional" education at all. Some call for less competence training and more formation of theological habits of interpretation and reflection; others advocate for more practical and contextual training of skills and role-formation; and others emphasize the formation of personal character and religious piety. Yet most of these reformers agree that the formation of pastoral and professional …

From Teaching Professionalism To Supporting Professional Identity Formation: Lessons From Medicine, Sylvia R. Cruess, Richard L. Cruess

Mercer Law Review

Profession, professional, and professionalism are generic terms that apply to a limited number of knowledge-based occupations charged with providing essential services to society. While the terms have existed for over 2000 years, until the middle of the nineteenth century the professions served only the upper socioeconomic strata and thus had a limited impact on society. The reasons were not complex. Wealth was limited and only a few could afford the services of the professional until the industrial revolution provided sufficient resources to support their use. The growth in both size and influence of the medical and legal professions occurred at …

Off-The-Shelf Formative Assessments To Help Each Student Develop Toward A Professional Formation/Ethical Professional Identity Learning Outcome Of An Internalized Commitment To The Student's Own Professional Development, Neil Hamilton

Mercer Law Review

With the shift in American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation standards to emphasize learning outcomes, all law schools will be slowly moving away from structure-and-process based legal education (exposure to specific content for specified periods of time, such as a four credit one semester contracts course) to competency-based legal education (focus on the ultimate competencies needed for excellent service to the clients and the legal system, such as competence in career-long professional development). A large number of law schools are adopting what the next section of this Article defines as competency-based professional-formation or ethical- professional-identity learning outcomes. The specific focus of …

The Art Of Self And Becoming A Professional, Jack L. Sammons

Mercer Law Review

This talk about the self originated in comments made by Joshua Bishop. Josh was executed by the People of the State of Georgia on March 31, 2016. Now I have long puzzled over questions of the self, especially in the context as here of students and practitioners who are in the process of becoming professionals; so the issues were not new to me although I had never gotten very far with them. But Josh's comments, when I first heard them, seemed to me to be a uniquely reliable resource for returning to these issues again. He spent most of his …

Marking The Path From Law Student To Lawyer: Using Field Placement Courses To Facilitate The Deliberate Exploration Of Professional Identity And Purpose, Timothy W. Floyd, Kendall L. Kerew

Mercer Law Review

Legal education is a powerfully transformative experience.' Law students enter law school as non-lawyers guided by the personal attitudes, values, and beliefs that drew them to the law and, within a few short years, leave law school with a new professional identity and purposethat of lawyer. While in law school, students learn about the law, acquire distinctive lawyering skills and habits, and develop an understanding of the many ethical obligations that guide a professional's actions. They develop new ways of thinking, talking, writing, and interacting with others. And throughout this process students take on new values, attitudes, and beliefs. In …

Developing Virtue And Practical Wisdom In The Legal Profession And Beyond, Mark L. Jones

Mercer Law Review

It is a central axiom of this Article that the good lawyer is a virtuous lawyer and that the possession and exercise of virtue is central to the lawyer's professional character and professional identity. The Article is therefore resonant with the school of "virtue jurisprudence" according to which the behavior of legal actors such as judges and lawyers and the ends of law pursued by legislators should be concerned with the development and exercise of virtues such as courage, honesty, integrity, wisdom, temperance, and, of course, justice as central to a life of human flourishing. It is also resonant with …

Encroachment, Loss Of Five Yards: Government Attorneys And The No- Contact Rule's Place In Civil False Claims Act Investigations, Erica L. Burchell

Mercer Law Review

A telephone rings, interrupting the otherwise quiet hum of a Tuesday afternoon's work in a government attorney's office. A pair of eyes dart quickly from a blinking cursor on the computer screen to the receiver of the multiline telephone. A hand reaches forward from the keyboard to grasp the telephone receiver, and, as the receiver is raised up to the attorney's ear, with the single uttering of "good afternoon," an ethical dilemma arises. The voice on the other end of the line has information–information to share–and now the attorney must decide whether continuing the conversation would comply with the applicable …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.1 The Article discusses attorney discipline, ineffective assistance of counsel, legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, judicial ethics, several miscellaneous cases involving legal ethics, opinions of the Formal Advisory Opinion Board, and amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This survey covers a two-year period from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2015. The Article discusses noteworthy Georgia appellate cases concerning attorney discipline, disqualification, ineffective assistance of counsel, judicial ethics, and legal malpractice. The Article also discusses two significant opinions from the Formal Advisory Opinion Board, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and several recent miscellaneous cases involving legal ethics in Georgia.

The Relationship Between Christian Theology And Legal Ethics In The Thought Of Jack Sammons, Timothy W. Floyd

Mercer Law Review

Jack Sammons is a man of enormous breadth of interests and expertise. This Symposium, with its diverse topics and contributors, is a testament to his remarkable range of thought, his unmatched creativity and originality, and his influence on generations of scholars. I am convinced that no one who has followed Jack's career for these past decades can keep up with him in all the paths he has trod. Fortunately, none of the contributors here have been asked to comment upon his entire range of scholarship.

Two areas in which Jack and I share an interest are legal ethics and Christian …