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Full-Text Articles in Law
A No-Fault Remedy For Legal Malpractce?, Melissa Mortazavi
A No-Fault Remedy For Legal Malpractce?, Melissa Mortazavi
Hofstra Law Review
The last forty years have seen a marked rise in legal malpractice lawsuits. Recent numbers show that no abatement is in sight; instead the number of large legal malpractice claims is steadily increasing. Although lawyers have a personal interest in limiting liability, they also have a professional one in protecting clients from harm arising due to malpractice. But how can the legal profession curtail and manage malpractice liability while also providing relief to injured clients? Applying existing tort scholarship on no-fault alternative systems to professional legal services, this Article argues that no-fault may be a viable option in many common …
When Clients Sue Their Lawyers For Failing To Report Their Own Malpractice, Benjamin P. Cooper
When Clients Sue Their Lawyers For Failing To Report Their Own Malpractice, Benjamin P. Cooper
Hofstra Law Review
What consequences should befall the lawyer who fails to disclose a significant error to his client? In a previous article, I examined the lawyer’s ethical duty to report his own malpractice to his client, a topic that had previously received little attention from courts and commentators, and concluded that the duty is well-grounded in Rules 1.4 and 1.7. Therefore the lawyer who fails to disclose his error to his client is subject to discipline. This Article addresses the client's ability to state an independent claim against the lawyer for failing to disclose his own malpractice -- a topic that has …
The Litigation Privilege: Its Place In Contemporary Jurisprudence, Louise Lark Hill
The Litigation Privilege: Its Place In Contemporary Jurisprudence, Louise Lark Hill
Hofstra Law Review
Historically, lawyers have been immune from civil liability for statements related to litigation which may injure or offend an opposing party during the litigation process. This protection is referred to as the “litigation privilege,” which originated in medieval English jurisprudence and continues to be recognized in the United States today. The rationale supporting the litigation privilege is that the integrity of the adversary system outweighs any monetary interest of a party injured by her adversary. Remedies other than lawsuits are available to parties who feel they have been damaged “by malicious statements or conduct during litigation.” For instance, misconduct in …
The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Whether And When Mandatory Disclosure Under Model Rule 4.1(B) Trumps Discretionary Disclosure Under Model Rule 1.6(B), Peter R. Jarvis, Trisha M. Rich
The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Whether And When Mandatory Disclosure Under Model Rule 4.1(B) Trumps Discretionary Disclosure Under Model Rule 1.6(B), Peter R. Jarvis, Trisha M. Rich
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Rise Of Institutional Law Practice, Thomas D. Morgan
The Rise Of Institutional Law Practice, Thomas D. Morgan
Hofstra Law Review
For generations, the legal profession has assumed that only individual lawyers practice law. Ethical standards have been largely, if not exclusively, directed at individuals, and practice organizations have been regulated to prevent limiting individual lawyer professional judgment. The world in which lawyers now practice makes the individualized model obsolete. The complexity of modern law narrows the breadth of any individual lawyer's practice and makes law firms and other practice organizations inevitable. Firms, in turn, must maintain both ethical compliance and a high level of service quality that is inconsistent with lawyers behaving idiosyncratically. The article explores these developments and suggests …
Engaged Client-Centered Representation Of The Moral Foundations Of The Lawyer-Client Relationship, Katherine R. Kruse
Engaged Client-Centered Representation Of The Moral Foundations Of The Lawyer-Client Relationship, Katherine R. Kruse
Hofstra Law Review
The field of legal ethics, as we know it today, has grown out of thoughtful, systematic grounding of lawyers’ duties in a comprehensive understanding of lawyers’ roles and the situating of lawyers’ roles in underlying theories of law, morality and justice. Unfortunately, the field of theoretical legal ethics has mostly lost track of the thing at the heart of a lawyers’ role: the integrity of the lawyer-client relationship. The field of theoretical legal ethics has developed in ways that are deeply lawyer-centered rather than fundamentally client-centered. This paper, which was delivered at Hofstra Law School as the Lichtenstein Distinguished Professor …
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act's Contribution To Informed Client Decision Making In Choosing A Dispute Resolution Process, Forrest S. Mosten, John Lande
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act's Contribution To Informed Client Decision Making In Choosing A Dispute Resolution Process, Forrest S. Mosten, John Lande
Hofstra Law Review
This Article describes how lawyers can implement the requirements of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act to obtain clients’ informed consent. The Act requires lawyers to obtain clients’ informed consent before undertaking a Collaborative representation but does not specify the information that lawyers must discuss with prospective Collaborative parties. To flesh out the Act’s requirements, this Article describes how lawyers should analyze the facts and parties’ interests, screen the appropriateness of dispute resolution processes, analyze the reasonably available dispute resolution options, and discuss the Collaborative process with clients. It specifically addresses privacy issues including privilege, confidentiality, and full disclosure requirements. This …
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act And Intimate Partner Violence: A Roadmap For Collaborative (And Non-Collaborative) Lawyers, Nancy Ver Steegh
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act And Intimate Partner Violence: A Roadmap For Collaborative (And Non-Collaborative) Lawyers, Nancy Ver Steegh
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
Monroe Freedman's Solution To The Criminal Defense Lawyer's Trilemma Is Wrong As A Matter Of Policy And Constitutional Law, Stephen Gillers
Monroe Freedman's Solution To The Criminal Defense Lawyer's Trilemma Is Wrong As A Matter Of Policy And Constitutional Law, Stephen Gillers
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel
Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel
Hofstra Law Review
Monroe Freedman is well known as a proponent of the "standard conception" of legal ethics - that is, that a lawyer cannot be criticized in moral terms for actions taken in a representative capacity. Surprisingly, however, Freedman has argued that client selection is a decision for which a lawyer may be required to provide a justification in ordinary moral terms. This apparent inconsistency reveals a conceptual distinction in normative ethical theory, which is often blurred, between justifying a practice (in this case, the legal system or some specialized practice such as criminal defense) and justifying an action falling within the …
Moralizing In Public, Anita L. Allen
The Corporate Lawyer And 'The Perjury Trilemma', Thomas D. Morgan
The Corporate Lawyer And 'The Perjury Trilemma', Thomas D. Morgan
Hofstra Law Review
This paper extends Monroe Freedman's idea of the criminal lawyer's "perjury trilemma" to current issues faced by corporate lawyers dealing with perceived pressures on the attorney-client privilege. The duties of criminal defense and corporate lawyers are more similar than they often seem. Corporate lawyers' duties of honesty in dealing with third parties are closely analogous to criminal lawyers' duties of honesty in dealing with a court. Both sets of lawyers also have an important interest in fostering open communications with their clients. Where their situations differ is not with respect to lawyer obligations but with respect to their clients' rights. …
Accidental Clients, Susan R. Martyn
Accidental Clients, Susan R. Martyn
Hofstra Law Review
Most of the time, lawyers represent clients. But lawyers can be consulted and paid, but not serve as lawyers for clients, for example when they are sought out as friends, escrow agents, corporate officers or expert witnesses. The law governing lawyers recognizes the significance of the client-lawyer relationship by imposing fiduciary duties on lawyers who undertake a client representation. These duties, the "4 C's," include communication, competence, confidentiality, and conflict of interest resolution. A wide variety of legal remedies for breach of the 4 C's, including malpractice, fee forfeiture, disqualification, constructive trust, and professional discipline also belong primarily to clients. …
Alleged Conflicts Of Interest Because Of The "Appearance Of Impropriety", Ronald D. Rotunda
Alleged Conflicts Of Interest Because Of The "Appearance Of Impropriety", Ronald D. Rotunda
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
Commentary On Counsel's Duty To Seek And Negotiate A Disposition In Capital Cases (Aba Guideline 10.9.1), Russell Stetler
Commentary On Counsel's Duty To Seek And Negotiate A Disposition In Capital Cases (Aba Guideline 10.9.1), Russell Stetler
Hofstra Law Review
This paper discusses counsel's duty to seek to resolve death penalty cases through negotiated dispositions for a sentence less than death.
Cheating Clients With The Percentage-Of-The-Gross Contigent Fee Scam, W. William Hodes
Cheating Clients With The Percentage-Of-The-Gross Contigent Fee Scam, W. William Hodes
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
Honoring Choice By Consenting Adults: Prospective Conflict Waivers As A Mature Solution To Ethical Gamesmanship--A Response To Mr. Fox, Jonathan J. Lerner
Honoring Choice By Consenting Adults: Prospective Conflict Waivers As A Mature Solution To Ethical Gamesmanship--A Response To Mr. Fox, Jonathan J. Lerner
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
All's O.K. Between Consenting Adults: Enlightened Rule On Privacy, Obscene Rule On Ethics, Lawrence J. Fox
All's O.K. Between Consenting Adults: Enlightened Rule On Privacy, Obscene Rule On Ethics, Lawrence J. Fox
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Client Fraud Problem As A Justinian Quartet: An Extended Analysis, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.
The Client Fraud Problem As A Justinian Quartet: An Extended Analysis, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.
Hofstra Law Review
No abstract provided.