Law Commons^™

Legal Ethics And The Separation Of Law And Morals, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This paper explores the jurisprudential question of the relationship between moral values and legal norms in legal advising and counseling in the context of an analysis of the so-called torture memos prepared by lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel in 2002. The principal claim of the paper is that the torture memos are morally bankrupt because they are legally bankrupt. The lawyers' actions were wrong from a moral point of view because the lawyers failed with respect to their obligation to treat the law with respect, not simply as an inconvenient obstacle to be planned around. The morality of …

The Continuing Moral Fashioning Of A Law Professor, Randy Lee

Randy Lee

No abstract provided.

Who Is The Corporation's Lawyer, Ethan S. Burger

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reports Of Batson's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: How The Batson Doctrine Enforces A Normative Framework Of Legal Ethics, Laura I. Appleman

ExpressO

In this article, I aim to explain how the Batson procedure enforces a normative framework of legal ethics, a theory which I hope will be of use to both criminal law professors and scholars of legal ethics. Despite many recent prudential attacks against the Batson procedure and the peremptory challenge, I contend that Batson has a largely unarticulated ethical component, one that invokes a lawyer’s professional responsibility. Accordingly, using legal ethics as a lens through which to interpret Batson sheds new light on the doctrine. Batson’s ethical imperative affects the norms of the legal profession itself. By fostering a non-discrimination …

Economic Rationality Vs. Ethical Reasonableness: The Relevance Of Law And Economics For Legal Ethics, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lawyers In Cyberspace: The Impact Of Legal Listservs On The Professioal Development And Ethical Decisionmaking Of Lawyers, Leslie Levin

Leslie C. Levin

This article explores the impact of trial lawyers' associations on the professional identities of its members, their professional development, their understanding of practice norms, and their ethical decision making. It does so by looking at the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), and more specifically, the conversations that occur on its listserv. When these conversations are viewed in the context of the history and current operations of NYSTLA, it is possible to see how such listservs powerfully promote shared professional values and views within NYSTLA=s membership. The listserv extends the advice networks of trial lawyers far beyond the small …

Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Kate Kruse

Faculty Scholarship

The debate over whether it serves or undermines the interests of justice for lawyers to temper the zeal of their advocacy based on considerations of morality or justice has largely been polarized between two camps: traditionalists and moralists. Traditionalists defend the amoral role of lawyers, arguing that lawyers should remain moral neutral in their representation of clients. Moralists propose alternative social justice lawyering models, which urge lawyers' morally engagement in their choice of clients, their interpretation of law, and their counseling of clients.

This article revisits the debate by recasting the question at its center. Instead of inquiring what a …

Introduction -- 21st Century Law, Technology, And Ethics: The Lawyer's Role As A Public Citizen, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Law Review Articles

The author addresses how modern developments in technology and the law bring with them the need for reassessment of the vision of the lawyer as a public citizen in this introduction to the University of Memphis Law Review issue on the symposium, 21st Century Law, Technology and Ethics: The Lawyer's Role as a Public Citizen.

Lawyers' Bargaining Ethics, Contract, And Collaboration: The End Of The Legal Profession And The Beginning Of Professional Pluralism, Scott R. Peppet

Publications

This Article combines contractarian economics and traditional ethical theory to argue for a radical revision of the legal profession's codes of ethics. That revision would end the legal profession as we know it-one profession, regulated by one set of ethical rules that apply to all lawyers regardless of circumstance. It would replace the existing uniform conception of the lawyer's role with a more heterogeneous profession in which lawyers and clients could contractually choose the ethical obligations under which they wanted to operate. This "contract model" of legal ethics, in which lawyers could opt in and out of various ethical constraints, …

Lawyers, Justice And The Challenge Of Moral Pluralism, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

The debate over whether it serves or undermines the interests of justice for lawyers to temper the zeal of their advocacy based on considerations of morality or justice has largely been polarized between two camps: traditionalists and moralists. Traditionalists defend the amoral role of lawyers, arguing that lawyers should remain moral neutral in their representation of clients. Moralists propose alternative social justice lawyering models, which urge lawyers' morally engagement in their choice of clients, their interpretation of law, and their counseling of clients.

This article revisits the debate by recasting the question at its center. Instead of inquiring what a …

Religious Lawyering's Second Wave, Russell G. Pearce, Amelia J. Uelmen

Faculty Scholarship

Since the mid-1990s, the "religious lawyering movement" has expanded dramatically, receiving greater attention within the academy and the bar. As the movement enters what we term its "second wave" of development, this essay begins with a look back to its "first wave" of path-breaking scholarship and its gradual shift toward more institutionalized structures and programs. It argues that the predominant characteristic of first-wave religious lawyering scholarship was to claim a space within the professional conversation for lawyers to bring religious values to bear on their work. The essay then predicts that in the second wave religious lawyering conversations and scholarship …

Conclusion: 'If You Don't Pull Up . . .'., James J. White

Other Publications

Today I am going to talk about a lawyer duty that is just as important as the duty to exercise warm zeal on behalf of a client, but it is a duty that is unknown to the popular culture and rarely touched on in law school. That is the duty to say no to your client, to step in front of a client who is determined to do something stupid, or in violation of the civil or criminal law.

Even Judges Don't Know Everything: A Call For A Presumption Of Admissibility For Expert Witness Testimony In Lawyer Disciplinary Proceedings The Fourth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility., Timothy P. Chinaris

St. Mary's Law Journal

Today's practice environment is full of potential ethical pitfalls for even the most conscientious lawyer. The consequences of being found guilty of misconduct can include suspension or disbarment from practicing as a lawyer. Added to these concerns is the fact that the judge or hearing panel before whom the case is tried may not be intimately familiar with the particular ethics rules or how they are interpreted in different areas of practice. In order to mount an effective defense against the disciplinary charges, an accused lawyer may want to introduce expert testimony on his or her behalf. Unfortunately for the …

Lawyers As Upholders Of Human Dignity (When They Aren't Busy Assaulting It), David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

David Luban argues in this lecture that the moral foundation of the lawyer's profession lies in the defense of human dignity-and the chief moral danger facing the profession arises when lawyers assault human dignity rather than defend it. The concept of human dignity has a rich philosophical tradition, with some philosophers identifying human dignity as a metaphysical property of individuals-a property such as having a soul, or possessing autonomy. Luban argues instead that human dignity is a relational property of "the dignifier" and "the dignified," emphasizing that assaulting human dignity humiliates the victim. Lawyers honor the human dignity of others …

The (F)Utility Of Rules: Regulating Attorney Conduct In Federal Court Practice, Judith A. Mcmorrow

Judith A. McMorrow

The problem is often decried: out-of-control attorneys, opportunists, cowboys, self-dealers, and overzealous prosecutors abusing the litigation process either for self-serving ends or from ideological zeal. But one person’s opportunist, cowboy, or self-dealer is another person’s zealous advocate. Lawyers want and need guidance on how to resolve issues that have competing claims to right behavior. The first place many lawyers look to find appropriate guidance are rules of ethics. Lawyers practicing in federal courts will find the search for rules particularly confusing. Unlike the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, federal courts do not operate with uniform ethics rules. District …

A Law Professor On Being Fashioned, Randy Lee

Randy Lee

No abstract provided.

U.S. Legal Ethics: The Coming Of Age Of Global And Comparative Perspectives, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

This Article reviews the influence of comparative law during the past 100 years on the field of U.S. legal ethics. It begins by defining the field of legal ethics and then divides the last 100 years into three distinct comparative legal ethics eras. The first era consists of the time period between 1904 and 1973, during which there was both domestic and comparative legal ethics scholarship, although a relatively small amount compared to later years. The second time period, which dates from 1974, when legal ethics became a required course, to 1997, represents the coming of age of domestic legal …