Law Commons^™

The Psychotherapist And The Attorney/Client Privileges As They Arise In Civil Rights Disputes, Lewis M. Wasserman

Touro Law Review

This article briefly reviews the elements of the psychotherapist-patient and attorney-client privileges and how these privileges may be waived in the context of federal civil rights litigation.

Privacy And Pension Plan Records: Is Self-Regulation Sufficient?, Michael J. Francis

Marquette Elder's Advisor

The confidentiality of employee' pension information is being threatened by changes in the design of qualified retirement plans and advances in data-processing and Internet technology. Despite the passage of recent laws aimed at protecting privacy, the author suggest that more may need to be done to ensure that personal financial information remains secure.

Private Lawmaking And The Architecture Of Confidentiality In Nonprofit Boardrooms, Norman I. Silber

Norman I. Silber

Abstract

Placement of the boundary line between transparent and confidential deliberation inside a boardroom affects the quality, efficiency, and fairness of corporate decision making. Policies which do not insist upon confidentiality can improve the perceived legitimacy of decisions and of those who make them; confidentiality can improve the ability to implement decisions effectively. The degree of transparency facilitated by these policies affects the volume and quality of available information. In the nonprofit boardroom, the boundaries that are set by governance rules also reflect and give shape to institutional structures and cultural norms.

This article explores justifications for changing from a …

Lawyers And Social Media: The Legal Ethics Of Tweeting, Facebooking And Blogging, Michael E. Lackey Jr., Joseph P. Minta

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beware: What You Say To Your [Government] Lawyer May Be Held Against You - The Erosion Of Government Attorney-Client Confidentiality, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Municipal Ethics Remain A Hot Topic In Litigation: A 1999 Survey Of Issues In Ethics For Municipal Lawyers, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Report Of The Working Group On Confidentiality, Bruce Boyer

Bruce A. Boyer

No abstract provided.

The Boundary Claim’S Caveat: Lawyers And Confidentiality Exceptionalism, Rebecca Aviel

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

In legal ethics scholarship, the “boundary claim” stands for the idea that lawyers must represent clients zealously but within the bounds of the law. The idea has long been embraced by the legal profession as both a description of—and justification for—the unique moral, social, and political space occupied by lawyers. This Article asserts that this professed commitment to obey the law comes with a caveat: the legal profession has been unwilling to acknowledge that lawyers must comply with laws that require the disclosure of client confidences. In fact, the bar has a fairly extensive history of suggesting or asserting that …

Friending And Following: Applying The Rules Of Professional Conduct To Social Media, Andy Taylor

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Despite the strong tradition in the law of not advertising for legal services, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as well as the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct recognize that the interest in expanding public information about legal services trump that tradition. However, that is not the case in many states where, in some cases, lawyers have been advised to avoid certain types of interactive websites or risk what has been dubbed a "one-click ethics violation."

This article seeks to explain how attorneys can use social networking sites without violating any rules of professional conduct. Additionally, the article proposes a …

California's Opportunity To Create Historical Precedent Regarding A Mediated Settlement Agreement's Effect On Mediation Confidentiality And Arbitrability , Susan Nauss Exon

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Confidentiality serves as a cornerstone of mediation. The public policy underlying confidentiality is the promotion of candid communications between disputing parties. As explained in this article, mediation confidentiality affects more than just communication. It affects other important mediation values, such as party self-determination and mediator impartiality. Mediation confidentiality affects parties' ability to enforce their mediated agreements. Finally, confidentiality affects multiple dispute resolution processes, as seen by the interrelated nature of mediation and arbitration in the seminal case of Fair v. Bakhtiari.

When Mediation Confidentiality And Substantive Law Clash: An Inquiry Into The Impact Of In Re Marriage Of Kieturakis On California's Confidentiality Law, Annalisa L. H. Peterson

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Mediation confidentiality laws play a critical role in allowing mediation to remain a viable process for parties to discuss the issues involved in their dispute, exchange information, and potentially reach a settlement before trial. Without certain guarantees as to the confidential nature of such a meeting, no savvy party or attorney would agree to provide information that could later be turned against him at trial, and many valuable opportunities (as measured in time, cost, reputation, relationship, etc.) for resolution would be lost. However, some parties to mediated disputes either do not reach resolution, or later contest a mediated agreement in …

Guardians Ad Litem Do Not Belong In Family Mediations , Suzanne J. Schmitz

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

A Guardiam Ad Litem (GAL) is valuable to the resolution of custody disputes because the GAL evaluates the facts concerning the dispute and recommends to the court what are the best interests of the child.5 Mediation is valuable because parents can determine their own decisions regarding their children. However, where appointing a GAL threatens the value of mediation, there is a risk to mediation. A simple solution to avoid this threat is to refrain from appointing a GAL until after mediation has been attempted or, if one is appointed prior to mediation, to excuse the GAL from mediation. This article …

Chain-Link Confidentiality, Woodrow Hartzog

Georgia Law Review

Disclosing personal information online often feels like
losing control over one's data forever; but it does not have
to be that way. This Essay proposes a "chain-link
confidentiality" approach to protecting online privacy.
One of the most difficult challenges to guarding privacy in
the digital age is the protection of information once it is
exposed to other people. A chain-link confidentiality
regime would link the disclosure of personal information
to obligations to protect that information as the
information moves downstream. It would focus on the
relationships not only between the discloser of information
and the initial recipient but also between …

Secret Class Action Settlements, Rhonda Wasserman

Articles

This Article analyzes the phenomenon of secret class action settlements. To illustrate the practice, Part I undertakes a case study of a class action lawsuit that recently settled under seal. Part II seeks to ascertain the scope of the practice. Part II.A examines newspaper accounts describing class action settlements from around the country. Part II.B focuses on a single federal judicial district – the Western District of Pennsylvania – and seeks to ascertain the percentage of suits filed as class actions that were settled under seal. Having gained some understanding of the scope of the practice, the Article then seeks …

Electronic Evidence In Canada, Robert Currie, Steve Coughlan

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This chapter discusses the issues surrounding electronic evidence in Canada. Topics discussed include the best evidence rule, electronic signatures, web-based evidence, and video-tape and security camera evidence. In addition rules around protection of privacy, discovery, and confidentiality are pursued. Finally the chapter also considers the many issues which arise around gathering electronic evidence in the criminal context, including wiretaps, general warrants, and searches of computers and cell phones.

Chain-Link Confidentiality, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

Disclosing personal information online often feels like losing control over one’s data forever; but this loss is not inevitable. This essay proposes a “chain-link confidentiality” approach to protecting online privacy. One of the most difficult challenges to guarding privacy in the digital age is the protection of information once it is exposed to other people. A chain-link confidentiality regime would contractually link the disclosure of personal information to obligations to protect that information as the information moves downstream. The system would focus on the relationships not only between the discloser of information and the initial recipient, but also between the …

Conflict Of Interests: Seeking A Way Forward On Publication Of International Arbitral Awards, Joshua D H Karton

Joshua Karton

There now appears to be general agreement that greater publication of awards would benefit the international commercial arbitration system, yet most awards remain unpublished. This article explains the current state of affairs by reference to the conflict between party and systemic interests. Since international arbitration is a private, consent-based system, party interests in keeping awards confidential are likely to trump systemic interests in publishing them—even if those systemic interests align with the long-term interests of commercial parties generally.

The conflict of interests not only explains why confidentiality of international arbitral awards remains the rule, it also points the way to …