Law Commons^™

The St. Thomas Effect: Law School Mission And The Formation Of Professional Identity, Jennifer Wright

Jennifer Wright

The legal profession has long been criticized for declining standards of professionalism. Recent studies have pointed to the crucial role of legal education in forming the professional identity of lawyers. Law schools must take seriously their duty to intentionally and thoughtfully shape their students’ sense of what it means to be a lawyer and of how their professional identities will align and coexist with their other personal and ethical commitments. In this article, I examine a case study of one law school, the University of St. Thomas School of Law, whose self-proclaimed raison d’etre is to produce a “different kind …

The Moral Significance Of Social Roles, James M. Donovan

James M. Donovan

Outside of specialized contexts, moral philosophy lacks an appreciation of the ethical commitments embedded within social roles such as that of "friend" and "spouse." The costs of this blindspot become especially high when considering certain problems that depend upon commonsense intuitions to discern what is or is not the "right" outcome. The problem of partiality--viewing one's relationships and projects as having intrinsic worth in themselves, rather than as a means to some other end, such as can be the case in some forms of utilitarianism--is one such example.

The present paper shows how unpacking the moral entailments of the roles …

Drafting Attorneys As Fiduciaries: Fashioning An Optimal Ethical Rule For Conflicts Of Interest, Paula A. Monopoli

Paula A Monopoli

The American Bar Association recently revised the ethical rules that govern lawyers. Its Ethics 2000 Commission proposed a number of changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including revisions to the rules that affect how the profession handles conflicts of interest in the area of attorneys who draft instruments that name themselves as fiduciaries. The intersection of these changes, with their subsequent clarification by an ABA opinion issued in May 2002, has broad implications for attorneys practicing in this area. Given the increasing elderly population, the trillions of dollars that they are transferring to their baby-boomer children, and the …

Limited Scope Representation: An Experiment In San Diego Housing Court, Lisa Young

Lisa Young

Limited Scope Representation: An Experiment in San Diego Housing Court Abstract By Lisa Young This paper analyses how limited scope representation effects the settlement agreements reached by litigants in San Diego Housing Court. Limited scope representation, also known as “unbundling,” is defined as a form of legal representation where the attorney only represents the client in one part of the client’s case. Limited Scope Representation is growing as a viable response to the significant lack of legal representation for middle- and low-income Americans. This paper is the first scholarship to test whether limited scope representation actually makes a substantive difference …

Into The Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion In Federal Sentencing, Mary K. Ramirez

mary k ramirez

Into the Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion in Federal Sentencing

Recent changes in federal sentencing have shifted discretionary decision-making back to federal district court judges, while appellate courts review challenged sentences for reasonableness. Each judge brings considerable legal experience and qualifications to the bench, however, cultural experiences cannot necessarily prepare judges for the range of persons or situations they will address on the bench. Social psychologists who have studied social cognition have determined that the human brain creates categories and associations resulting in implicit biases and associations that are often unconscious or subconscious. Moreover, research suggests that such biases may …

Into The Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion In Federal Sentencing, Mary K. Ramirez

mary k ramirez

Into the Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion in Federal Sentencing

Recent changes in federal sentencing have shifted discretionary decision-making back to federal district court judges, while appellate courts review challenged sentences for reasonableness. Each judge brings considerable legal experience and qualifications to the bench, however, cultural experiences cannot necessarily prepare judges for the range of persons or situations they will address on the bench. Social psychologists who have studied social cognition have determined that the human brain creates categories and associations resulting in implicit biases and associations that are often unconscious or subconscious. Moreover, research suggests that such biases may …

Determinative Sentencing Laws: Understanding The Law And Ethical Concerns, Linsey L. Krauss

Linsey L Krauss

No abstract provided.

“Once Upon A Time, In A Land Far, Far Away . . .” Lawyers And Clients Telling Stories About Ethics (And Everything Else), Carolyn Grose

carolyn grose

ABSTRACT

Framed by an analysis of two particular ethical rules and their application to specific situations, this piece uses the metaphor of storytelling to explore the lawyer’s role as an effective and ethical client representative. Drawing from the experiences of two sets of clients and their lawyers, the piece proposes an approach to ethical regulation (as one component of the lawyer-client relationship) that requires the lawyer to engage in a deeply contextual analysis of the specific and particular ethical conflicts presented to him in any particular case; and work with his client to determine how to resolve those conflicts.

The …

Deconstructing The Duty To The Tax System: Unfettering Zealous Advocacy On Behalf Of Lesbian And Gay Taxpayers, Anthony C. Infanti

Anthony C. Infanti

In this article, I consider how the tax lawyer’s generally-acknowledged duty to the tax system should be applied in the representation of lesbian and gay clients. Due to the significant initial advantages that taxpayers are thought to have over the government in the tax compliance and enforcement process, this duty to the tax system requires a tax lawyer to avoid both questionable positions and the temptation to play the audit “lottery.” The tax lawyer is asked to temper the zealousness of her advocacy in this way in order to preserve the integrity and, ultimately, the proper functioning of the tax …

Whistleblowers And Tax Enforcement: Using Inside Information To Close The "Tax Gap", Edward A. Morse

Edward A. Morse

This article examines the current legal structure allowing rewards for informants who assist the IRS in the enforcement of the tax laws. IRS data suggest that informants are a cost-effective means of enhancing tax enforcement. The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 introduced a separate whistleblower award program that enhances reward levels (up to 30 percent of the amount collected) and attempts to provide greater certainty in the payment of such rewards, including a process for enforcing reward claims through litigation in the Tax Court. Although whistleblower awards enhance tax enforcement, the current reward provisions raise significant issues …

The Medium Of Exchange Paradigm: A Fresh Look At Compensated Live-Organ Donation, Dean Lhospital

Dean Lhospital

For over twenty years, human live-organ sales have been banned in the United States and most of the rest of the world. Observations and data arising from black market transactions and the few legal markets for organs suggest that permitting and regulating organ sales leads to more humane conditions than outlawing sales. Despite the data, opponents of organ sales still argue that selling human organs devalues human life. This article examines the panoply of organ markets – white, grey, and black – and identifies the source of this cognitive dissonance. Recognizing that there is a fundamental paradox in ethical objections, …

The Ghost In Our Genes: Legal And Ethical Implications Of Epigenetics, Gary E. Marchant, Mark A. Rothstein, Yu Cai

Gary E. Marchant

Epigenetics is one of the most scientifically important, and legally and ethically significant, cutting-edge subjects of scientific discovery. Epigenetics link environmental and genetic influences on the traits and characteristics of an individual, and new discoveries reveal that a large range of environmental, dietary, behavioral, and medical experiences can significantly affect the future development and health of an individual and their offspring. This article describes and analyzes the ethical and legal implications of these new scientific findings.

When The Criminal Client Intends To Commit Perjury, Grace M. Giesel

Grace M. Giesel

In the case of Brown v. Commonwealth, 226 S.W.3d 74 (Ky. 2007), the Kentucky Supreme Court has provided trial courts and lawyers, especially criminal lawyers, with some much needed ethical guidance. While the case itself was a criminal appeal, not an attorney discipline matter, the Court’s opinion provides insight into the ethical sticky wicket of the proper conduct of the lawyer for a criminal defendant when the defendant intends to commit perjury. Such a situation pits the constitutional rights of criminal defendants against the ethical duties of defense counsel to act with candor to the court.

The Medium Of Exchange Paradigm: A Fresh Look At Compensated Live-Organ Donation, Dean Lhospital

Dean Lhospital

For over twenty years, human live-organ sales have been banned in the United States and most of the rest of the world. Observations and data arising from black market transactions and the few legal markets for organs suggest that permitting and regulating organ sales leads to more humane conditions than outlawing sales. Despite the data, opponents of organ sales still argue that selling human organs devalues human life. This article examines the panoply of organ markets – white, grey, and black – and identifies the source of this cognitive dissonance. Recognizing that there is a fundamental paradox in ethical objections, …

The Ethics Of Legal Process Outsourcing To India—Is The Practice Of Law A "Noble Profession," Or Is It Just Another Business?, Aaron R. Harmon

Aaron R. Harmon

Published as “The Ethics of Legal Process Outsourcing—Is the Practice of Law a ‘Noble Profession,’ or is it Just Another Business?” 13 U. of Fl. J. Tech. L. & Pol’y 41 (June 2008). In this Article, I analyze the emergence of LPO in India, as well as the ethical considerations raised for firms that offshore legal work. I focus on India, where the industry has evolved most rapidly, for two reasons. First, as a result of British colonization, many Indian workers speak English fluently, thereby facilitating an East-West synergy more easily than other countries. Second, India utilizes a common law …

The Holocaust, Museum Ethics, And Legalism, Jennifer Kreder

Jennifer Kreder

The attached article is a provocative analysis of the “Holocaust art movement.” The movement has led to significant and controversial restitutions from museums. This article focuses on two emotionally driven claims refused by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: One to recover a suitcase stolen from a murdered man, and the other to recover watercolors a woman was forced to paint for Josef Mengele to document his pseudo-scientific theories of racial inferiority and his cruel medical experiments. These claims provide insightful case studies to examine the emotional and ethical aspects of such disputes uncomplicated by the monetary issues in many of the …

"Once Upon A Time, In A Land Far, Far Away:" Lawyers And Clients Telling Stories About Ethics (And Everything Else), Carolyn Grose

carolyn grose

Framed by an analysis of two particular ethical rules and their application to specific situations, this piece uses the metaphor of storytelling to explore the lawyer’s role as an effective and ethical client representative. Drawing from the experiences of two sets of clients and their lawyers, the piece proposes an approach to ethical regulation (as one component of the lawyer-client relationship) that requires the lawyer to engage in a deeply contextual analysis of the specific and particular ethical conflicts presented to him in any particular case; and work with his client to determine how to resolve those conflicts.

The first …

Beneath The Surface: Metadata, Transparency And The Ethical Use Of Information, Michael Katz

Michael Katz

While the gains from the digital revolution are tremendous in terms of increased efficiency, access to information and searchability, the change in information format has caught some off guard. No longer is data limited to what is available on a piece of paper. Yet there is a price to pay for these gains. Where once a letter’s recipient could not see anything but what the sender openly presented in the letter, today that email, word processing document and spreadsheet all contain additional information not readily visible on their face. Beneath the surface, packed into the file, exists metadata - information …

Achieving Early And Substantial Greenhouse Gas Reductions Under A Post-Kyoto Agreement, John Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This article explains why policy makers should seriously consider substantial early reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as a part of any post-Kyoto framework, and sets out suggested elements of a framework for early action in a post-Kyoto agreement. Substantial early reductions are needed because of the growing urgency of the climate change science, the precautionary approach identified in the Framework Convention on Climate Change as a decision-making principle, the fact that cost-effective measures are now available, and the significant non-climate benefits (security, economic, social, and environmental) that can be achieved by implementing them. As a practical matter, too, long-term greenhouse …

Implementing Geographic Information Technologies Ethically, Harlan J. Onsrud

Harlan J Onsrud

Spatial technologies are changing relations among citizens, between citizens and businesses, and between citizens and their governments. Profound implications regarding our relationships with each other are being raised by the expanding use of mobile, spatial, and context-aware technologies, the building of interoperable coordinated spatial data infrastructures and pervasive sensor-networks, the use of location as the foundation for many current and future business and scientific information systems, and the widespread enablement of individuals to gather their own spatial data, report it to others and generate their own spatial resources. How can we within the geospatial community better weave our way through …