Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law and Society

Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type

Articles 841 - 870 of 1990

Full-Text Articles in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

New Law Complicates Foreclosure Sales In Texas., Katherine A. Tapley Jan 2010

New Law Complicates Foreclosure Sales In Texas., Katherine A. Tapley

St. Mary's Law Journal

A new law that recently took effect has changed the way non-judicial real property foreclosure sales work in Texas. The new law, known as House Bill 655 (HB 655), relates to foreclosure sales in Texas. HB 655 amends the language of Texas Property Code section 51.0075(f) dealing with when the purchase price is due at a foreclosure sale. The amendment, however, complicates foreclosure sales in Texas. The purchase price at the foreclosure sale is no longer due immediately. Instead, if a purchaser at a foreclosure sale requests additional time to deliver the purchase price, the trustee—the person conducting the foreclosure …

Go to article

Unequal And Unfair: Why Texas Should Require Mandatory Sales Price Disclosure To Reconcile The Texas Property Tax Code With The Texas Constitution., Nathan Morey Jan 2010

Unequal And Unfair: Why Texas Should Require Mandatory Sales Price Disclosure To Reconcile The Texas Property Tax Code With The Texas Constitution., Nathan Morey

St. Mary's Law Journal

Appraisal districts in Texas are implementing a system of taxation that is unequal and unfair. Texas counties, cities, and school districts depend on local ad valorem property taxes for revenue. Under the Texas Property Tax Code, the Code establishes appraisal districts to determine the value of taxable property. There is, however, a discrepancy between the cash value of the land and its appraisal value, especially when compared to commercial property and residential property. Commercial property and high-end residential real estate are often undervalued by appraisal districts throughout the state. Because commercial properties are under-appraised, the tax burden is being unequally …

Go to article

Leaks, Lies, And The Moonlight: Fiduciary Duties Of Associates To Their Law Firms., Susan Saab Fortney Jan 2010

Leaks, Lies, And The Moonlight: Fiduciary Duties Of Associates To Their Law Firms., Susan Saab Fortney

St. Mary's Law Journal

This symposium article examines the fiduciary duties of law firm associates. After applying agency principles to the firm-associate relationship, the article analyzes specific duties and discusses cases involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duties by associates. It explores associate duties in the current legal, organizational, and socio-technological environment in which associates practice. The article closes with observations on the importance of firm principals considering the effect of firm culture on associate attitudes and conduct.

Go to article

If One Is Good, Two Must Be Better: A Comparison Of The Texas Standards For Appellate Conduct And The Texas Disciplinary Rules Of Professional Conduct., Edward L. Wilkinson Jan 2010

If One Is Good, Two Must Be Better: A Comparison Of The Texas Standards For Appellate Conduct And The Texas Disciplinary Rules Of Professional Conduct., Edward L. Wilkinson

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the Standards for Appellate Conduct (Standards) on February 1, 1999. The Standards are intended to “give practitioners a valuable tool to use with clients who demand unprofessional conduct” by imposing “an affirmative duty to educate the client about the Standards of Appellate Conduct.” The Standards further state they do not “alter existing standards of conduct under the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, or the Code of Judicial Conduct.” Under the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, sanctionable conduct includes “acts or omissions…which violate one or more of the Texas …

Go to article

Hall's Standards Of Review In Texas Foreword., Wallace B. Jefferson Jan 2010

Hall's Standards Of Review In Texas Foreword., Wallace B. Jefferson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Go to article

Technical Problem: How City Of Dallas V. Dallas Morning News, Lp Exposed A Major Loophole In The Texas Public Information Act Comment., Alexander J. Yoakum Jan 2010

Technical Problem: How City Of Dallas V. Dallas Morning News, Lp Exposed A Major Loophole In The Texas Public Information Act Comment., Alexander J. Yoakum

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) grants everyone a statutory right to access records of a governmental body unless disclosure would violate the law. Generally, TPIA is construed broadly to favor disclosure, but the rise of modern technology like email and text messaging reveals how dated TPIA truly is. According to the recent City of Dallas v. Dallas Morning News, LP, a governmental body is not required to release any business-related electronic communications sent via personal devices. This means governmental employees can conduct official business via personal email or cell phone without being subject to disclosure provisions, unless the requester …

Go to article

Hall's Standards Of Review In Texas., W. Wendell Hall, O. Rey Rodriguez, Rosemarie Kanusky, Mark Emery Jan 2010

Hall's Standards Of Review In Texas., W. Wendell Hall, O. Rey Rodriguez, Rosemarie Kanusky, Mark Emery

St. Mary's Law Journal

Standards of review distribute power within the judicial branch by defining the relationship between trial and appellate courts. These standards “frame the issues, define the depth of review, assign power among judicial actors, and declare the proper materials to review.” Standards of review are the cornerstones of appeals. These standards must be woven into the discussion of the facts and substantive law in a manner which persuades the appellate court that the trial court erred. Litigants must measure their factual and legal arguments against the appropriate rubric to write an effective and persuasive brief. Appellate judges agree that mechanical recitation …

Go to article

Sept. 2009, Ifc, Addressing Grievances From Project-Affected Communities, Good Practice Note, Final, Ifc Sep 2009

Sept. 2009, Ifc, Addressing Grievances From Project-Affected Communities, Good Practice Note, Final, Ifc

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Aug. 28, 2009, J. Loukas, Bic, An Exception To All Rules, Compare Wb And Ifc Standards, Jackob Kane Loukas Aug 2009

Aug. 28, 2009, J. Loukas, Bic, An Exception To All Rules, Compare Wb And Ifc Standards, Jackob Kane Loukas

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Mar. 2009, Ifc, Project-Level Grievance Mechanisms For Affected Communities, Ifc Mar 2009

Mar. 2009, Ifc, Project-Level Grievance Mechanisms For Affected Communities, Ifc

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Observations On Leadership: Moral And Otherwise, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 159 (2009), William Arthur Wines Jan 2009

Observations On Leadership: Moral And Otherwise, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 159 (2009), William Arthur Wines

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Go to article

An Anthropologist's Approach To Mediation, Rebecca Golbert Jan 2009

An Anthropologist's Approach To Mediation, Rebecca Golbert

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

On October 31, 2008, the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association, in collaboration with AAA International Centre for Dispute Resolution, ACB Group-Netherlands, ADR Center-Rome, CEDR, CMAP, International Academy of Mediators, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution ("CPR"), JAMS, Netherlands Mediation Institute, and the International Mediation Institute, held its first International Mediation Leadership Summit. The Summit's setting-the Peace Palace in The Hague in the Netherlands-was both breathtakingly beautiful and evocative. The Summit's goals-guided by the leadership and vision of Section Chair Lela Love and former Chair Bruce Meyerson, as well as international partners Manon Schonewille and Giuseppe de …

Go to article

Civil Jury Trials R.I.P. - Can It Actually Happen In America Essay., Royal Furgeson Jan 2009

Civil Jury Trials R.I.P. - Can It Actually Happen In America Essay., Royal Furgeson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Civil jury trials in America have been declining at a steady rate for the last thirty years. This is a well-documented trend. If the trend continues, within the foreseeable future, civil jury trials in American may eventually become extinct. Jury trials have been central to justice in America and its states since their inception. Their importance has been stated as bringing accountability to the law and to society. As all persons, even the powerful and wealthy ones, are accountable under the law. Yet, as important as juries and jury trials are to the health of justice in America, the civil …

Go to article

Ten Years After Burrow V. Arce: The Current State Of Attorney Fee Forfeiture., Jeffrey A. Webb, Blake W. Stribling Jan 2009

Ten Years After Burrow V. Arce: The Current State Of Attorney Fee Forfeiture., Jeffrey A. Webb, Blake W. Stribling

St. Mary's Law Journal

“Extreme [attorney] misconduct may warrant an extreme remedy.” Fee forfeiture certainly constitutes an extreme remedy, at least compared to the ordinary remedy for violation of a legal duty. But neither the degree to which the remedy is extreme nor how extreme the misconduct must first be before the forfeiture becomes appropriate is apparent in light of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Burrow v. Arce. Understanding the confusion which has arisen with regard to Burrow’s impact depends in large measure on a thorough evaluation of (1) the basis for the court’s determinations relating to forfeiture, (2) the sources from which …

Go to article

Patent-Holding Patent Attorneys: Conflicts Of Interests, Confidentiality, And Employment Issues Comment., Ashley R. Presson Jan 2009

Patent-Holding Patent Attorneys: Conflicts Of Interests, Confidentiality, And Employment Issues Comment., Ashley R. Presson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Patents are grants issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which confer upon the holder, the patentee, patent rights to such intellectual property as inventions, technologies, and processes. Patent rights include the right to exclude others from “making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States.” Once the USTPO has granted a patent, the inventor may market the product. Patentees who do not have the funds or time to market the product may profit by conveying the legal rights conferred by the patent to other …

Go to article

Should Texas's Former Ban On Obscene-Device Promotion Pass Constitutional Muster Under A Murky Lawrence Comment., Laura M. Clark Jan 2009

Should Texas's Former Ban On Obscene-Device Promotion Pass Constitutional Muster Under A Murky Lawrence Comment., Laura M. Clark

St. Mary's Law Journal

When the Fifth Circuit freed Texans to promote and distribute sexual devices without criminal penalties, it created a split with the Eleventh Circuit’s decision to uphold Alabama’s ban. Both courts based their rulings on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated Texas’s statute banning homosexual sodomy. In upholding Alabama’s sex-toy statute in 2007, the Eleventh Circuit found no fundamental right to sexual privacy under Lawrence and held public morality was a sufficiently rational basis for the statute. The court distinguished Lawrence, which dealt with prohibition of private conduct, rather than public commercial activity. The Fifth Circuit …

Go to article

Texas Law's Life Or Death Rule In Capital Sentencing: Scrutinizing Eight Amendment Violations And The Case Of Juan Guerrero, Jr., John Niland, Riddhi Dasgupta Jan 2009

Texas Law's Life Or Death Rule In Capital Sentencing: Scrutinizing Eight Amendment Violations And The Case Of Juan Guerrero, Jr., John Niland, Riddhi Dasgupta

St. Mary's Law Journal

The United States Supreme Court has never explained the Eighth Amendment’s impact in noncapital cases involving a mentally retarded or brain-injured defendant. The Court has not provided guidance to legislatures or lower courts concerning the acceptable balancing of aggravating and mitigating factors and the role that mitigating factors must play in the sentencing decision. A definitive gap exists between the protections afforded to a criminal defendant facing a life sentence as opposed to those confronted with the death penalty. The Court requires sentencing procedures to consider aggravating and mitigating factors, including mental retardation and brain damage, when imposing a death …

Go to article

Swimming With Shark, Nancy B. Rapoport Jan 2009

Swimming With Shark, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

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.

Go to article

Plea To The Jurisdiction: Defining The Undefined., Rebecca Simmons, Suzette Kinder Patton Jan 2009

Plea To The Jurisdiction: Defining The Undefined., Rebecca Simmons, Suzette Kinder Patton

St. Mary's Law Journal

Pleas to the jurisdiction have been part of Texas jurisprudence since shortly after Texas became a state. The resulting confusion over the procedure and standards to be employed in resolving a plea was partially alleviated by the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda. From a number of reports from Texas’s reviewing courts, however, it is evident the courts continue to struggle with the plea. Currently there are no established procedural rules to assist with the resolution of a plea to the jurisdiction. Thus, procedures vary from court to court and case to case. …

Go to article

Loyalty In Limbo: The Peculiar Case Of Attorneys' Loyalty To Clients., Eli Wald Jan 2009

Loyalty In Limbo: The Peculiar Case Of Attorneys' Loyalty To Clients., Eli Wald

St. Mary's Law Journal

Attorney loyalty to clients is considered a cornerstone of the attorney-client relationship. Yet, loyalty is underexplored, misunderstood, and the subject of heated discord. Advocates of client-centered loyalty and their opponents both fail to provide a compelling accounting of loyalty to clients and its consequences. Leaving loyalty in limbo is an unacceptable state of affairs. The legal profession bears the continuous burden of accounting for its own practices. Because the Bar cannot assert broad client-centered loyalty as self-explanatory, the burden of disproving loyalty shifts to the critics. Critics of broad loyalty to clients are not helping advance the discourse by advocating …

Go to article

Preserving Attorney-Client Privilege In The Age Of Electronic Discovery, Anthony Francis Bruno Jan 2009

Preserving Attorney-Client Privilege In The Age Of Electronic Discovery, Anthony Francis Bruno

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Go to article

The Bapcoa's Restriction On Attorney-Client Speech In The Fifth And Eighth Circuits: Worth Saving Or Destroying Comment., Sara Berkeley Jan 2009

The Bapcoa's Restriction On Attorney-Client Speech In The Fifth And Eighth Circuits: Worth Saving Or Destroying Comment., Sara Berkeley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Go to article

Globalization And Corporate Social Responsibility: Challenges For The Academy, Future Lawyers, And Corporate Law, Faith Stevelman Jan 2009

Globalization And Corporate Social Responsibility: Challenges For The Academy, Future Lawyers, And Corporate Law, Faith Stevelman

Articles & Chapters

Changes in information technology, in combination with changing popular and political opinion (including concern over climate change) are moving the subject of corporate social responsibility ('CSR') to the forefront of policy reform, consumer and investor behavior, and graduate business education. Nevertheless, up to the present, CSR has not thrived within law schools’ curricula, or mainstream graduate or undergraduate programs. First, the subject is too synthetic to fit neatly within the core, established framework of academic subject areas (e.g. history, economics, sociology and management), or law schools’ conventional teaching of corporate, securities, employment, administrative, or environmental law. CSR is relevant to …

Go to article

Reflections On Recommendation 12, Naiomi Metallic Jan 2009

Reflections On Recommendation 12, Naiomi Metallic

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This article focuses on the Marshall Commission Report’s specific recommendation for increased representation of racialized persons within the judiciary.

Go to article

The Manitoba College Of Physicians And Surgeons Position Statement On Withholding And Withdrawal Of Life-Sustaining Treatment (2008): Three Problems And A Solution, Jocelyn Downie, Karen Mcewen Jan 2009

The Manitoba College Of Physicians And Surgeons Position Statement On Withholding And Withdrawal Of Life-Sustaining Treatment (2008): Three Problems And A Solution, Jocelyn Downie, Karen Mcewen

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM) recently issued a Statement on Withholding and Withdrawl of Life-Sustaining Treatment (2008). The College should be given enormous credit for trying to provide guidance with respect to physicians' obligations in an area of great confusion and controversy. Unfortunately, however, there are some very serious flaws in the Statement. In this paper, we describe three major problems with it that we believe make the case for the claim that the Statement must be revised. We then provide a revised statement that, if adopted, could represent significant progress as it would provide: greater …

Go to article

Procedural And Judicial Limitations On Voir Dire - Constitutional Implications And Preservation Of Error In Civil Cases., R. Brent Cooper, Diana L. Faust Jan 2009

Procedural And Judicial Limitations On Voir Dire - Constitutional Implications And Preservation Of Error In Civil Cases., R. Brent Cooper, Diana L. Faust

St. Mary's Law Journal

The right to a trial by jury is meaningless without an effective voir dire. Recurring tort reform, rapid technological advancements, immediate access to media coverage of incidents that give rise to litigation have greatly expanded. Consequentially, courts are faced with the prospect that potential jurors’ opinions and attitudes have been tainted. In addition to these issues, trial courts display significant interest in promptly expediting the advancement of their dockets. Voir dire is an essential element of trial strategy. Voir dire allows counsel to establish rapport with potential jurors, introduce them to the issues and facts of the case, and identify …

Go to article

The Texas Supreme Court's Erroneous Doctrine Of Implied Appellate Jurisdiction., Charles R. Flores Jan 2009

The Texas Supreme Court's Erroneous Doctrine Of Implied Appellate Jurisdiction., Charles R. Flores

St. Mary's Law Journal

A Texas statute gave final appellate jurisdiction over cases not to the state supreme court but to the intermediate courts of appeals. After losing at the appellate level, one of the parties in Eichelberger v. Eichelberger appealed to the state supreme court despite the statute. But because the court of appeals decision conflicted with a United States Supreme Court decision, the Texas Supreme Court held its jurisdiction should be implied. Though legal commentators declared the decision an abrupt departure from standards for judicial decisions, they postulated it would be invoked so infrequently to do no lasting harm to Texas jurisprudence. …

Go to article

Practitioners Beware: Under Amended Trap 47, Unpublished Memorandum Opinions In Civil Cases Are Binding And Research On Westlaw And Lexis Is A Necessity., Andrew T. Solomon Jan 2009

Practitioners Beware: Under Amended Trap 47, Unpublished Memorandum Opinions In Civil Cases Are Binding And Research On Westlaw And Lexis Is A Necessity., Andrew T. Solomon

St. Mary's Law Journal

In 2003 and 2008, the Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure (TRAP) 47 was amended. TRAP 47 is the rule which governs the issuance, citation, and precedential value of unpublished and memorandum opinions. The 2003 amendment was designed to make the law more readily available by prohibiting the issuance of unpublished opinions in civil cases and authorizing memorandum opinions in place of unpublished opinions. Despite its intention, the 2003 amendment failed to make civil case law more readily available. This is because such new opinions are only available via electronic repository, such as Westlaw or Lexis. As a result, to completely …

Go to article

Professional Malpractice In A World Of Amateurs., Thomas D. Morgan Jan 2009

Professional Malpractice In A World Of Amateurs., Thomas D. Morgan

St. Mary's Law Journal

Clients experience the speed at which the world changes, both technologically and socially. They expect lawyers to keep pace. The technology which permits lawyers to deliver legal services faster also chains lawyers to their electronic devices. This technology has also led to a growing market of those who promise to do the same work faster, better, and cheaper. Such developments will ultimately affect how lawyers view professional malpractice or the way the industry understands “competence and diligence normally exercised by lawyers.” The malpractice question becomes: to what standard of care and competence should such “amateur” lawyers be held? The legal …

Go to article

Could Government Speech Endorsing A Higher Law Resolve The Establishment Clause Crisis., Bruce Ledewitz Jan 2009

Could Government Speech Endorsing A Higher Law Resolve The Establishment Clause Crisis., Bruce Ledewitz

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Establishment Clause crisis exists due to the Supreme Court’s promise that America would have a secular government—meaning one which was neutral between religion and irreligion, as well as being neutral to all religions. This promise evolved pursuant to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Nevertheless, the commitment to neutrality was never carried to fulfillment by the Court. The crisis may be illustrated by Congress’ addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. This addition seemed to violate the promise of neutrality made by the Supreme Court in Everson v. Board of Education …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last