Law Commons^™

"Nudging" Better Lawyer Behavior: Using Default Rules And Incentives To Change Behavior In Law Firms, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article examines how incentives in law firms can affect lawyer behavior and suggests some possible changes to incentive structures and default rules that might improve the ethical behavior of lawyers.

In the changing landscape of law practice — where law firm profits are threatened by such changes as increased pressure from clients to economize and the concomitant opportunities for clients to shop around for the most efficient lawyers — are there ways to change how things are done in law firms so that firms can provide more efficient and ethical service? This article suggests that an understanding of cognitive …

The Client Who Did Too Much, Nancy B. Rapoport

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Using Hitchcock's MacGuffin as a theme, I discuss the dynamics between client and lawyer when the client so obsesses over the issue driving him that he persuades (or attempts to persuade) the lawyer to do things that are inadvisable from the lawyer's point of view.

Behavioral Legal Ethics, Jean R. Sternlight, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

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Complaints about lawyers’ ethics are commonplace. While it is surely the case that some attorneys deliberately choose to engage in misconduct, psychological research suggests a more complex story. It is not only “bad apples” who are unethical. Instead, ethical lapses can occur more easily and less intentionally than we might imagine. In this paper, we examine the ethical “blind spots,” slippery slopes, and “ethical fading” that may lead good people to behave badly. We then explore specific aspects of legal practice that can present particularly difficult challenges for lawyers given the nature of behavioral ethics - complex and ambiguous ethical …

The Case For Value Billing In Chapter 11, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article explores the forces contributing to very high professional fees in large Chapter 11 cases and suggests that lawyers might want to consider valuing their services in ways other than the traditional billable hour approach.

Through Gritted Teeth And Clenched Jaw: Court-Initiated Sanctions In Bankruptcy Opinions, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article discusses what types of behavior can trigger a bankruptcy court's initiation of sanctions against an attorney.

Rethinking Professional Fees In Chapter 11 Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article discusses the many ways in which professional fees can spiral out of control in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and evaluates the possible ways to monitor and control those fees.

Debtor Counsel's Fiduciary Duty: Is There A Duty To Rat In Chapter 11?, Nancy B. Rapoport, C. R. Bowles

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This article discusses what duties counsel to the debtor-in-possession owe (and to whom they owe these duties) when the debtor-in-possession wants to do something illegal or just plain dumb.

Swimming With Shark, Nancy B. Rapoport

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In this essay, Nancy Rapoport discusses how Sebastian Stark (played by James Woods) seduces the lawyers on his legal team into ignoring legal ethics in favor of Stark's own version of ethics. Stark -- a criminal defense lawyer who becomes a deputy district attorney -- bends the ethics rules past the breaking point in order to put bad guys behind bars. His team of lawyers knows right from wrong but follows Stark's lead in breaking the rules anyway.

(Almost) Everything We Learned About Pleasing Bankruptcy Judges, We Learned In Kindergarten, Nancy B. Rapoport, Roland Bernier Iii

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In this essay, we demonstrate that most ethics violations (at least the ones that irritate bankruptcy judges) are also violations of simple rules of behavior that people should have learned in kindergarten.

The Curious Incident Of The Law Firm That Did Nothing In The Night-Time, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This essay argues that organizations (here, the Milbank, Tweed law firm) often ignore obviously bad behavior by their employees because of various psychological and sociological factors that prevent them from recognizing the behavior as bad in the first place.

The Relationship Between Defense Counsel, Policyholders, And Insurers: Nevada Rides Yellow Cab Toward "Two-Client" Model Of Tripartite Relationship. Are Cumis Counsel And Malpractice Claims By Insurers Next?, Jeffrey W. Stempel

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It happens constantly in civil litigation. An insurance company hires a lawyer to defend its policyholder from a third party’s claim of injury. But just who is the lawyer’s “client?” Is it the policyholder who is the named defendant in the case and is “represented” in court proceedings? Or is it the insurer who, in most cases, selected the attorney, pays the attorney, supervises the litigation, and has (by the terms of the liability insurance policy) the right to settle the case, even over the objections of the policyholder? Ordinarily, the liability insurer has both the duty to defend a …

Lawyer Professional Responsibility In Litigation, Jeffrey W. Stempel

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A perennially-vexing litigation issue concerns the limits of permissible attorney argument. More than a few lawyers have been tripped up by the occasional fuzziness of the line between aggressive advocacy and improper appeals to passion or prejudice. See Craig Lee Montz, Why Lawyers Continue to Cross the Line in Closing Argument: An Examination of Federal and State Cases, 28 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 67 (2001-2002)(problem of violations results from lack of uniformity and clarity of ground rules as well as errors of counsel). In Cohen v. Lioce, 149 P.3d 916 (Nev. 2006) the Nevada Supreme Court both provided significant guidance …

Enron, Titanic, And The Perfect Storm, Nancy B. Rapoport

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In this article, I explore the contention of Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron CEO, that Enron's debacle was due to a perfect storm of events. I reject his contention, arguing instead that Enron's downfall was more like Titanic's - hubris and an over-reliance on checks and balances led to Enron's downfall. I then explore how character (especially of those at the top of an organization) can lead to Enron-like disasters, and I talk about how cognitive dissonance can lead to very smart people making very stupid decisions. I end with some musings about how lawyers can learn from Enron.

Learning From Practice: What Adr Needs From A Theory Of Justice, Katherine R. Kruse

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Adding to the impressive body of work that has made her a leading voice in the fields of both alternative dispute resolution and professional responsibility, Carrie Menkel-Meadow's Saltman Lecture connects the theoretical exploration currently occurring on two parallel tracks: (1) theories of justice that investigate the ideal of a deliberative democracy; and (2) theories of alternative dispute resolution arising from its reflective practice. As she notes, theorists on both tracks are grappling with similar questions about the processes or conditions that will best bring together parties with widely divergent viewpoints to engage in consensus-building dialogue around contested issues.

However, while …

Lawyers Should Be Lawyers, But What Does That Mean?: A Response To Aiken & Wizner And Smith, Katherine R. Kruse

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Lawyers should be more like social workers. That is the message of Law as Social Work, the provocative essay by Jane Aiken and Stephen Wizner (Aiken & Wizner) in the Washington University Journal of Law & Policy volume, which preceded the conference on Promoting Justice Through Interdisciplinary Teaching, Practice, and Scholarship, hosted by Washington University School of Law in March 2003. Almost as if in reply, Abbe Smith's contribution to the same pre-conference volume reasserts the importance of lawyers as zealous and partisan advocates, using the realities of the criminal defense context to argue for the value of the lawyer's …

Enron, Titanic, And The Perfect Storm, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article explores the contention of Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron CEO, that Enron's debacle was due to a perfect storm of events. It rejects his contention, arguing instead that Enron's downfall was more like Titanic's - hubris and an over-reliance on checks and balances led to Enron's downfall. The article then explores how character (especially of those at the top of an organization) can lead to Enron-like disasters, and discusses how cognitive dissonance can lead to very smart people making very stupid decisions. It ends with some musings about how lawyers can learn from Enron.

What Do Clients Want? A Client's Theory Of Professionalism, Leslie C. Griffin

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No abstract provided.

The Intractable Problem Of Bankruptcy Ethics: Square Peg, Round Hole, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article continues my earlier research on conflicts of interest in bankruptcy cases, particularly in chapter 11 cases. It suggests that conflicts in interest in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases should not be handled the same way that conflicts are handled under state ethics rules, and it proposes a new section of the Bankruptcy Code to cover conflicts of interest in cases filed under chapter 11.

Presidential Ethics: Should A Law Degree Make A Difference?, Nancy B. Rapoport

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Two of the nation's most controversial presidents, Nixon and Clinton, were both lawyers, and both of them had ethics-related problems while in office. This essay reviews whether any model ethics rules force lawyer-presidents to behave at a higher standard than non-lawyer-presidents; then it discusses the implications for legal education if we really do want lawyers to go above and beyond the norm of behavior.

Dressed For Excess: How Hollywood Affects The Professional Behavior Of Lawyers, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article discusses two related points: first, that the way in which movies portray lawyers shapes how clients view effective/ineffective lawyer behavior, and second, that the portrayal also helps lawyers to forget appropriate professional behavior.

Living "Top-Down" In A "Bottom-Up" World: Musings On The Relationship Between Jewish Ethics And Legal Ethics, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article discusses the differences between how Jewish ethics are disseminated and how legal ethics are created, and it walks the reader through some classic examples of the conflicts between the two.

Moral Bankruptcy: Modeling Appropriate Attorney Behavior In Bankruptcy Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This essay discusses how important it is for lawyers, especially senior lawyers, to model appropriate behavior so that the newest lawyers learn how best to behave professionally.

Our House, Our Rules: The Need For A Uniform Code Of Bankruptcy Ethics, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article argues that there should be a separate code of professional responsibility for lawyers in bankruptcy cases.

The Need For New Bankruptcy Ethics Rules: How Can "One Size Fits All" Fit Anybody?, Nancy B. Rapoport

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Short discussion why dormant, temporary, actual conflicts (DTACs) in bankruptcy cases can't be handled appropriately under state ethics rules.

Turning The Microscope On Ourselves: Self-Assessment By Bankruptcy Lawyers Of Potential Conflicts Of Interest In Columbus, Ohio, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article attempts to devise an appropriate instrument to determine whether bankruptcy lawyers in Columbus, Ohio are able to identify potential conflicts of interest in bankruptcy cases. Although the article is unable to develop an appropriate instrument, it does discuss why the survey method is not appropriate for this type of study.

Ethics: Is Disinterestedness Still A Viable Concept? A Roundtable Discussion, Nancy B. Rapoport

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The transcript of a panel discussion about disinterestedness among Prof. John D. Ayer, the Hon. Charles N. Clevert, the Hon. Joel Pelofsky, Bettina Whyte, and Nancy B. Rapoport.

Has The Dip's Attorney Become The Ultimate Creditors' Lawyer In Bankruptcy Reorganization Proceedings?, Nancy B. Rapoport, C. R. Bowles

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This article discusses the issues facing the lawyer for the estate in a bankruptcy case. It debunks the idea that the lawyer for the estate represents any single constituency, and it tries to redefine the fiduciary duties that the estate lawyer has to the bankruptcy estate.

Avoiding Judicial Wrath: The Ten Commandments For Bankruptcy Practitioners, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article describes the top ten duties for bankruptcy lawyers. 1. Know the purpose(s) of the Bankruptcy Code. 2. Know the facts and the law. 3. Spend time crafting your arguments. 4. Don't lie (about conflicts of interest or about controlling law). 5. Be respectful (of other lawyers, of the system, and of other participants in the system). 6. Don't indulge your client's sleazy instincts. 7. Don't escalate a conflict unnecessarily. 8. Honor your calendar. 9. Keep your client informed. 10. Don't whine.

Seeing The Forest And The Trees: The Proper Role Of The Bankruptcy Attorney, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article discusses the tension between the lawyer's duty to her client and her duty to the legal system as an officer of the court. It concludes that, in a situation in which those two duties conflict, the lawyer's duty to the system as a whole should trump the duty to the client.

Turning And Turning In The Widening Gyre: The Problem Of Potential Conflicts Of Interest In Bankruptcy, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article is the first in a series of articles discussing the problem of conflicts of interest in bankruptcy cases. It argues that the traditional means for discovering and handling conflicts of interest - based on state-law ethics rules - fundamentally misconceives the problem in a bankruptcy context. State law ethics rules presume that the parties are always in static positions; in bankruptcy law, alliances shift all the time. The article proposes a possible method of handling potential conflicts of interest in bankruptcy cases.