Law Commons^™

The Fall Of An American Lawyer, Michael Ariens

Faculty Articles

John Randall is the only former president of the American Bar Association to be disbarred. He wrote a will for a client, Lovell Myers, with whom Randall had been in business for over a quarter-century. The will left all of Myers’s property to Randall, and implicitly disinherited his only child, Marie Jensen. When Jensen learned of the existence of a will, she sued to set it aside. She later filed a complaint with the Iowa Committee on Professional Ethics and Conduct. That complaint was the catalyst leading to Randall’s disbarment.

Randall had acted grievously in serving as Lovell Myers’s attorney. …

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.

Rehabilitating Lawyers: Perceptions Of Deviance And Its Cures In The Lawyer Reinstatement Process, Bruce A. Green, Jane Moriarty

Jane Campbell Moriarty

State courts’ approach to lawyer admissions and discipline has not changed fundamentally in the past century. Courts still place faith in the idea that “moral character” is a stable trait that reliably predicts whether an individual will be honest in any given situation. Although research in neuroscience, cognitive science, psychiatry, research psychology, and behavioral economics (collectively “cognitive and social science”) has influenced prevailing concepts of personality and trustworthiness, courts to date have not considered whether they might change or refine their approach to “moral character” in light of scientific insights. This Article examines whether courts should reevaluate how they decide …

The Law Of Disbarment And Reinstatement In Maryland, Arthur W. Machen Jr

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law--The Right To A Jury Trial In Disbarment Proceedings, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Lawyers in the United States have long been considered officers of the court, subject to examination for good moral character and adequate education in law before admission to the bar. They have also been subject to summary proceedings for disbarment whenever they have deviated from accepted standards of conduct embodied in various codes of professional ethics. Although the specific grounds for disbarment vary from state to state and between federal and state courts, one thing is clear: in the absence of a specific statutory provision there traditionally has been no right to a jury trial in disbarment proceedings. Since the …

Attorneys--Self-Incrimination--The Attorney's Privilege Against Self-Incrimination In A Disbarment Proceeding, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A state court has jurisdiction to deal with the alleged misconduct of attorneys practicing before it either explicitly by statute or by ' virtue of its power to control the conduct of its own affairs. Indeed, it can suspend or disbar an attorney who fails to maintain the standard of conduct established for members of the legal profession. One aspect of such a standard is that an attorney is bound not to obstruct the administration of justice, a duty which imposes upon him an affirmative obligation to cooperate with the courts. The question frequently arises whether, in order to satisfy …

Disbarment By Federal Court For Failure To Perform Duties Of State Office

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Inherent Power Of The Courts In Regard To Admission And Disbarment Of Attorneys, J. Pelham Johnston

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Power Of The Indiana Supreme Court To Disbar

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Attorneys

Power Of Supreme Court To Disbar

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Attorneys

Grounds For Disbarment And Suspension In Kentucky, J. Paul Curry

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Inherent Power Of The Judiciary, Henry M. Dowling

Indiana Law Journal

Address delivered by Henry M. Dowling of the Indianapolis Bar at the Annual Meeting of the Indiana State Bar Association September 7, 1935; first published in the October American Bar Association Journal and reprinted here with permission of that journal.

May The Bar Set Its Own House In Order?, Lowell Turrentine

Michigan Law Review

California is a particularly appropriate jurisdiction to be used as the basis for a study such as the present. Its State Bar Act of 1927 was one of the early, detailed, legislative attempts to confer self-governing powers upon the bar, its decisions have become leading cases on the questions of constitutionality and construction thus presented, and its reported disciplinary cases far outnumber those of any other state-baract jurisdiction. Consideration of the relative merits of different methods of bar integration is outside the scope of this paper. But no inference should be drawn from anything herein that a statutory bar of …

Constitutional Law - Reinstatement Of Attorney - Constitutionality Of Pardon Statute - Legislative Encroachment On Judicial Power

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings based on the record of his conviction for attempted extortion, the petitioner was disbarred. Having received a full pardon from the governor, he sought reinstatement, relying on a statute which purported to make reinstatement mandatory on the court upon proof of the pardon. Held, the statute is unconstitutional in so far as it directs the court to reinstate a disbarred attorney without a showing of moral rehabilitation. It is an encroachment by the legislature upon the inherent power of the court to admit attorneys to practice and in effect vacates a judicial order by legislative mandate. In …

Attorney And Client-Appropriate Penalty For Embezzlement As Executor

Michigan Law Review

An attorney over a period of two years converted for his own purposes $12,500 from two estates of which he was executor. Although the Chicago Bar Association Committee on Grievances recommended disbarment it was held, three justices dissenting, that defendant should be suspended for two years and until complete restitution was made. In re Borchardt, (III. 1934) 192 N. E. 383.

Reinstatement Of Disbarred Attorney, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

The petitioner asked to be reinstated. The court, excepting Justice Fellows, who concurred in the result but expressed no opinion, said they would be glad to reinstate him but for the fact that he was a non-resident, which in their opinion made him ineligible, but they gave their endorsement of his good character by vacating the order of disbarment. The questions which occur are these: 1. Did the court have the power to vacate its order of disbarment after the time for opening, amending or vacating judgments had passed? 2. Did the vacation of the order of disbarment operate ipso …

Disbarment Or Suspension Of Attorney, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

The decision of the Supreme Court of Oregon in the case of State ex rel Grievance Committee of State Bar Association v. Tanner, rendered Jan. 12, 19O7, 88 Pac. Rep. 301, is of sufficient importance to merit brief notice. The proceeding was instituted by the grievance committee of the State Bar Association for the removal from practice of the defendant, an attorney at law, under a statute of the State that provides for the removal or suspension of an attorney from practice by the Supreme Court "upon his being convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude."