Law Commons^™

Is Bar Exam Failure A Harbinger Of Professional Discipline?, Jeffrey S. Kinsler

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article’s theses are premised on two suppositions. First, the primary causes of attorney discipline are nondiligence and incompetence. Similarly, the primary causes of bar exam failure are “poor study habits, weak academic skill development, or low intellectual functioning . . . .” Thus, it is reasonable to assume that lawyers who fail the bar exam are more likely to be disciplined as attorneys. Second, there is statistical and anecdotal evidence linking the failure of entrance exams and subsequent professional discipline in other occupations. It is plausible, therefore, that such a link exists in the legal profession.

Epistemic Peerhood In The Law, R. George Wright

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

We thus have, at this point, a preliminary sense of the importance of some possible choices in deciding whose voices and participation should be taken seriously, as that of our epistemic peers, in deciding legal questions. This Article addresses these preliminary understandings in several legal contexts. We can do so most profitably on the basis of a better, fuller, and more specific understanding of the crucial idea of epistemic peerhood. It is thus the idea of epistemic peerhood itself that this Article addresses immediately below.

A Human Rights Code Of Conduct: Ambitious Moral Aspiration For A Public Interest Law Office Or Law Clinic, Lauren E. Bartlett

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Article argues that the lack of moral aspiration in legal ethics rules helps contribute to unhappy and unhealthy law students and lawyers, undermining the legal profession. Part II reviews the existing rules and standards that guide the ethical behavior of lawyers in the United States, arguing that all too often the binding rules focus on providing guide posts, signaling where behavior is unacceptable and disciplinary action is possible, instead of providing moral aspiration and options or next steps to describe what a lawyer should do to deal with an ethical dilemma.

Part III of this …