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Cleveland State University

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Cleveland State Law Review

Ethics

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Legal Malpractice In A Changing Profession: The Role Of Contract Principles, Vincent R. Johnson Jan 2013

Legal Malpractice In A Changing Profession: The Role Of Contract Principles, Vincent R. Johnson

Cleveland State Law Review

In little more than four decades, the field of American legal ethics has been transformed from an unimportant backwater into a mighty river of legal principles that drives the practice of law in countless respects. Today, this complex matrix of substantive provisions and enforcement mechanisms ensures, to a great extent, that clients are protected from unnecessary harm, that lawyers are safeguarded from improper accusations, and that the provision of legal services is consistent with the public interest. However, the fabric of legal ethics is threatened by a looming transformation of the legal profession. That potential restructuring may revolutionize the delivery …


Lawyers, Learning, And Professionalism: Meditations On A Theme, Judith Welch Wegner Jan 1995

Lawyers, Learning, And Professionalism: Meditations On A Theme, Judith Welch Wegner

Cleveland State Law Review

This essay will offer three meditations on the theme of "lawyers, learning and professionalism." First, it lays a foundation by arguing that a commitment to learning is an appropriate and necessary professional value for lawyers. Next, it contends that lawyers need to take this professional value more seriously. It will suggest that lawyers lag behind other professions in learning about learning, and urge more lawyers deliberately do just that. Finally, the essay shares some important lessons about professionalism recently learned through learning experiments with practicing lawyers and law students.


Self-Inflicted Wounds: The Duty To Disclose Damaging Legal Authority, Angela Gilmore Jan 1995

Self-Inflicted Wounds: The Duty To Disclose Damaging Legal Authority, Angela Gilmore

Cleveland State Law Review

This article analyzes Rule 3.3(a)(3) and its implications for opposing parties in an adversarial legal system. The article's conclusion is that strict compliance with Rule 3.3(a)(3) by all members of the Bar is necessary to preserve the integrity of the legal system. Circumvention of the Rule is a disservice to the legal system. Part II explains Rule 3.3(a)(3) so that lawyers can grasp the ethical duty owed. Part III examines three roles simultaneously played by a lawyer: a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system, and a private citizen having a special responsibility for the quality of justice.7 …


Personal Values And Professional Ethics, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr. Jan 1992

Personal Values And Professional Ethics, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

My purpose on this occasion is to urge reexamination of personal values as a fundamental resource of professional ethics. The essential point is that rules of ethics, such as those embodied in the profession's ethical codes, are insufficient guides to making the choices of action that a professional must make in practice. I will suggest that the same is true of professional tradition and conventional ways of practice. This is not to say that rules of ethics and traditions are irrelevant. Rules of professional ethics frame the ethical problems that are encountered in a lawyer's life throughout practice. Moreover, professional …


Love, Professional Responsibility, The Rule Of Law, And Clinical Legal Education, Steven H. Leleiko Jan 1980

Love, Professional Responsibility, The Rule Of Law, And Clinical Legal Education, Steven H. Leleiko

Cleveland State Law Review

The primary purpose of this article is to explore the tensions which arise in persons who come to law school because they view the practice of law as an expression of their love and concern for people. In examining the underlying causes of these tensions, six related factors will be looked at: (1) the relationship between the values of traditional legal education and the support or lack of support which these values afford to the affective characteristics of students; (2) the role of one's job as a means of expressing love; (3) the role of job satisfaction in one's life; …


Split Loyalty: An Ethical Problem For The Criminal Defense Lawyer, Gerald S. Gold Jan 1965

Split Loyalty: An Ethical Problem For The Criminal Defense Lawyer, Gerald S. Gold

Cleveland State Law Review

Nowhere in law do ethical considerations play a greater part or come into greater conflict than in the defense of those accused of crime. The lawyer defending an accused owes a duty to his client, a duty to society, and a duty to the court. The duties to each are not completely clear and when the various loyalties conflict, fair, safe, and moral resolutions are most difficult.