Law Commons^™

What Is The Common Good, And Why Does It Concern The Client's Lawyer?, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

Why is anything of real concern to any of us? Because, besides our simply emotional motives, we have reasons for action (which may be supported or opposed by our emotions). What are reasons for action? Some are instrumental, means to further ends: I have reason to start reading this paper to you, and you had reason to come back into the room to hear it. What reasons? Well, doing so is my contribution to this symposium's reflection on its subject-matter. That reflection, in turn, is intended to be instrumental in promoting a wider and deeper understanding of an important set …

Towering Figures, Enigmas, And Responsive Communities In American Legal Ethics, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

The first thing Niebuhr and Guttman are telling us to do is to look around and figure out what is going on around us. With that in mind, it has seemed to me that, at the simplest, a lawyer (or a journalist) functions in at least four communities, any one of which might be a community to talk about lawyers' moral questions in.

My inquiry, then, is an inquiry in communitarian legal ethics, using a Guttman-Niebuhr focus on responsibility. I infer a further question about communities of moral discernment—that is, not only where a modern lawyer is responsible but also …

Limited Representation: Helping Clients While Protecting Yourself, Mary E. Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

The lawyer-client relationship is defined by what the client retains the lawyer to do, and that retention may be as general or specific as the lawyer and client desire. The Nevada Supreme Court has recognized that even with regard to “a particular transaction or dispute, an attorney may be specifically employed in a limited capacity.” This freedom to contract for broader or narrower representation benefits both lawyers and clients. No lawyer can be a true generalist anymore, and most clients cannot afford the full range of representation that the legal profession offers on a single matter.

Lawyers' Duty To Do Justice: A New Look At The History Of The 1908 Canons, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Information/Consent/Authorization For Minors' Participation In Research, Jocelyn Downie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Following the workshop described in the previous article "Children and Decision-Making in Health Research," I decided to "operationalize" the approach taken to the issue of minors and consent/authorization. What follows is a proposed set of instructions for investigators that could be provided by REBs to investigators to facilitate the process of applying for ethical approval for research involving minors and to ensure respect for minors who are participating in research.

Should A Christian Lawyer Sign Up For Simon's Practice Of Justice?, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

In The Practice of Justice, Professor William H. Simon describes justice in a way that differs from the way the Bible describes justice. The big difference is not so much what justice requires (although there is some difference there) as (i) how people decide what justice requires, and (ii) who the "people" are who decide what justice requires. Some of us Christians claim to understand "justice" as the Bible understands it. It may make a difference that, for biblical people, "justice" is righteousness, and righteousness, the Torah teaches, and Rabbi Hillel teaches, and Rabbi Jesus teaches, is practice following upon …

Lies And Law, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Professionalism: Restoring The Flame, Donald L. Burnett Jr.

Articles

No abstract provided.

Professionalism: Restoring The Flame, Donald L. Burnett Jr.

Articles

No abstract provided.

Possible Solutions: Policy Tools To Achieve Flexibility To Meet New Conditions, Preliminary Thoughts For Coping With Future Droughts, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

The following comments are premised on the author's experience with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (Conservancy) in New Mexico and its endeavor to implement a water banking system. Background information about the Conservancy is helpful for an understanding of its efforts at water banking.

Shortage And Tension On The Upper Rio Grande: Protecting Endangered Species During Times Of Drought, Comments From The Perspective Of The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

Looking back at the drought of 1996 and at the efforts to protect endangered species in the midst of the drought, the most glaring fact remains that the water managers and users of the Rio Grande were in crisis management. In fact, despite some efforts, if the drought had manifested with equal or greater intensity in 1997, we would have remained in crisis management. Hence, as we move forward and examine lessons learned, the most vital premise we must return to is the imperative for balance as we undertake the precarious task of allocating water to protect endangered species, serve …

Disciplinary Restrictions On Multidisciplinary Practice: Their Derivation, Their Development, And Some Implications For The Core Values Debate The Future Of The Profession: A Symposium On Multidisciplinary Practice, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Many of the legal profession's disciplinary rules are of venerable lineage. For example, the provisions of contemporary disciplinary codes concerning conflicts of interest derive from the 1908 Canons of Professional Ethics (Canons), which, in turn, can be traced back to late nineteenth century state ethics codes, to mid-nineteenth-century lectures and writings, 3 and to earlier common-law agency principles. Although lawyers to- day disagree about what the precise contours of the conflict rules should be, these rules embody basic principles of loyalty, competence and confidentiality that are fundamental, traditional, and universally supported by lawyers. These are defining principles for the practice …

Representing Defendants On Charges Of Economic Crime: Unethical When Done For A Fee, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

A Basic Concern For Process: Commentary On Quo Vadis, Prospective Overruling, James R. Mccall

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Personal Fulfillment In The Changing World Of Law Practice: Opportunities And Obstacles, Howard Lesnick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Speaking Truth To Powerlessness, Howard Lesnick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Preempting Oneself: The Right And The Duty To Forestall One's Own Wrongdoing, Leo Katz

All Faculty Scholarship

Economists and philosophers working on problems of rational choice have for some time been concerned with various puzzles raised by so-called "Ullysean" configurations: actors who rationally cause themselves to act irrationally. (e.g., the person who swallows Thomas Schelling's famous irrationality pill to preempt an attempted robbery). What has attracted less attention is that these configurations present fascinating problems for morality, most especially for non-consequentialist morality. This article undertakes the exploration of some of these problems and the implications they hold for the morality of preemptive detention, preemptive self-defense, the creation of prophylactic crimes (like our drug laws) and a variety …

Cautionary Tale From The Multidisciplinary Practice Debate: How The Traditionalists Lost Professionalism, A The Phyllis W. Beck Chair In Law Symposium: New Roles, No Rules - Redefining Lawyers' Work - Redefining Lawyers' Work: Multidisciplinary Practice, Russell G. Pearce, Amelia J. Uelmen:

Faculty Scholarship

The author presents a fictional conversation among Lawrence J. Fox, other noted legal scholars, and himself concerning the ethics and changes in the legal profession.

Law Day 2050: Post-Professinalism, Moral Leadership, And The Law-As-Business Paradigm Symposium, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

Inspired by Ted Schneyer's future history of professional discipline' and Bob Gordon's descrption of "the hazy aspirational world" of the "Law Day Sermon,' I offer a vision of the legal profession 'a next fifty years in the form of a Law Day speech from the year 2050. Looking back on developments in the first half of the twenty-first century, this piece explores the implications of the analysis proposed in my earlier article, The Professionalism Paradigm Shift: Why Discarding Professional Ideology Will Improve the Conduct and Reputation of the Bar. The speech presents a projection of the moral leadership the bar …

Rationing Justice—What Thomas More Would Say, Michael E. Tigar

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Kosovo, Casualty Aversion, And The American Military Ethos: A Perspective, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Professional And Ethical Issues In Legal Externships: Fostering Commitment To Public Service, Lisa G. Lerman

Scholarly Articles

In this Article, I explore the larger issue of professional choices presented to law student externs. Then I explore some of the particular ethical dilemmas that law students and their teachers encounter in externship programs.

Of Cell Phones And Electronic Mail: Disclosure Of Confidential Information Under Disciplinary Rule 4-101 And Model Rule 1.6, Karin M. Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Regardless of the known security risks, it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a law firm in the twentieth century operating without the technological advancements that make it possible to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time. These advancements often enable immediate responses that are beneficial to attorneys and clients alike. Cellular phone usage and electronic mail are an integral mode of communication between firm members, negotiating attorneys, as well as between attorneys and their clients. While it has developed into a mode of communication making the practice of law more efficient, it is doubtful that most attorneys give …

Law And Economics Of English Only, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Leak And The Craft: A Hard Line Proposal To Stop Unaccountable Disclosures Of Law Enforcement Information, John Q. Barrett

Faculty Publications

The critics of Kenneth W. Starr accused him, in the five-plus years that he served as the multi-tasked Independent Counsel, of many failings, mistakes, and improprieties. One of the most prevalent charges was one that has significance to lawyers and resonates with the general public's sense of bad behavior by prosecutors: the allegation that Starr and/or members of his staff "leaked" information. This general accusation was, of course, imprecise. It also might have been overbroad. Prosecutorial "leaks" include such plain illegalities as disclosing grand jury information to the media or other unauthorized persons, and also the much less regulated practice …

Comment On Professor Roth's Reply, James R. Mccall

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Model Rules: The Place Of Examples In Legal Ethics, Heidi Li Feldman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct defined the agenda for the post- Watergate renaissance in legal ethics. While there had been some form of codified precepts for American lawyers since at least 1908, Watergate inspired a desire to clean up a disgraced profession. The American Bar Association (ABA) promulgated the Model Rules; law schools instituted mandatory courses; and scholars debated and analyzed the new Model Rules. The organized bar devoted much time and attention to developing these guidelines. The mainstream media covered both the bar's original efforts and the subsequent adoption of the Model Rules by particular jurisdictions. Today, forty-three …

Faculty Pro Bono And The Question Of Identity, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

My aim in this essay is to explain and defend a simple proposition, which I'll call the pro bono thesis: law teachers and law schools have the same pro bono responsibilities as lawyers and law firms. By "pro bono" I mean something more particular than community service or civic involvement. I mean free or reduced-rate legal work for those who cannot afford to pay for it. The pro bono thesis is that law teachers and law schools have pro bono responsibilities in this sense.

Taking Problem Solving Pedagogy Seriously: A Response To The Attorney General, Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Attorney General Janet Reno has taken seriously the notion that lawyers should make the world better than they find it, that problems should be prevented, where possible, before they occur, and that law should serve the needs of the people and deliver long-term justice. I want to suggest some concrete ways in which we can take her challenges seriously.

The Zealous Advocacy Of Justice In A Less Than Ideal Legal World, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In The Practice of Justice, William Simon addresses a widely recognized dilemma -- the moral degradation of the legal profession that seems to be the unpleasant by-product of an adversarial system of resolving disputes -- with a bold claim: Lawyers involved in either the representation of private rights or the public interest should be zealous advocates of justice, rather than their clients' interests. If lawyers were to do what this reorientation of their basic identity would dictate -- that is, if lawyers were to zealously pursue justice according to law, rather than zealously pursue through all marginally lawful means whatever …