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Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons™

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Fordham Law School

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Articles 151 - 180 of 240

Full-Text Articles in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Criminal Neglect: Indigent Defense From A Legal Ethics Perspective Ethics Symposium What Do Clients Want: Practice Contexts, Bruce A. Green Jan 2003

Criminal Neglect: Indigent Defense From A Legal Ethics Perspective Ethics Symposium What Do Clients Want: Practice Contexts, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Most criminal defendants in the United States cannot afford to pay for a lawyer's services, and as a result their lawyers are government funded. Unfortunately, some state and local governments drastically under-fund indigent defense services. Criminal defense lawyers serving in these jurisdictions typically carry grossly excessive caseloads and are therefore severely restricted in how much time they can devote to individual clients. Commentators have targeted the under-funding of indigent defense systems as a problem of criminal justice, constitutional law, and civil rights. That is certainly true, but the under-funding of indigent defense also raises a serious and inadequately recognized problem …

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Catholic Social Teaching And American Legal Perspective, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Jan 2002

Catholic Social Teaching And American Legal Perspective, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay examines possible applications of Catholic social teachings to the practice and teaching of law. The author lists five major topics within Catholic social teaching: human dignity, the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, and care of the environment. He then lists ways in which these ideals may be realized through the practice of law, including education, litigation, counseling, judging, and legislation.

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Catholic Social Teaching And American Legal Practice: A Practical Response, Jennifer M. Mone Jan 2002

Catholic Social Teaching And American Legal Practice: A Practical Response, Jennifer M. Mone

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The author responds to Avery Cardinal Dulles's essay and lecture "Catholic Social Teaching and American Legal Practice," Fordham Urb. L.J., 277 (2002) (available at http://new.fordhamj.org/demonstration/dc/v30/27_30FordhamUrbLJ277(2002-2003).pdf). She provides a practical perspective on the applications of Catholic social teachings to the practice of law. She concludes that Catholic teachings and law intersect in two areas: in the lawyer's discretion and in the lawyer's professional interactions with others.

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The Physician As Conscientious Objector, J. David Bleich Jan 2002

The Physician As Conscientious Objector, J. David Bleich

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines the right of doctors to object, because of conflicts with the doctor's own morals, to treatment requested or refused by patients. Focusing mainly on end-of-life care, the author compares court opinions allowing or prohibiting doctors to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment at the request of patients or their surrogates.

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Religious Contributions To The Bioethics Debate: Utilizing Legal Rights While Avoiding Scientific Temptations, Steven Goldberg Jan 2002

Religious Contributions To The Bioethics Debate: Utilizing Legal Rights While Avoiding Scientific Temptations, Steven Goldberg

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article explores the authors views on the place of religious debate concerning scientific issues. It outlines the author's concerns with religion becoming overshadowed by science, even within relgious communities, and his ideas on how religion may be brought to the forefront.

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Toward Epistemic Justice: A Response To Professor Goldberg, Dominic J. Balestra Jan 2002

Toward Epistemic Justice: A Response To Professor Goldberg, Dominic J. Balestra

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article is a response to Steven Goldberg's article and lecture "Religious Contributions to the Bioethics Debate: Utilizing Legal Rights while Avoiding Scientific Temptations," 30 Fordham Urb. L.J., 35 (2002) (available at http://new.fordhamj.org/demonstration/dc/v30/13_30FordhamUrbLJ35(2002-2003).pdf). The author argues that the question is not the place of values in a world of fact, but the place of facts in a world of values.

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The Goodness-Of-Fit Ethic For Informed Consent, Celia B. Fisher Jan 2002

The Goodness-Of-Fit Ethic For Informed Consent, Celia B. Fisher

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay argues that informed consent policies for adults with mental disorders need to reflect a relational approach that re-conceptualizes consent vulnerability in terms of a "goodness-of-fit" between patient characteristics and the consent context. The author explains the concept of consent vulnerability and how it applies to individuals with mental disorders and may itself impair their ability to make informed decisions. She then examines four psycho-legal standards of informed consent and how to enhance their usefulness and accuracy. Finally, she provides three hypothetical situations and applies the "goodness-of-fit" model to them to illustrate the function of the concept.

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Protestant Perspectives On Informed Consent (Particularly In Research Involving Human Participants), James F. Childress Jan 2002

Protestant Perspectives On Informed Consent (Particularly In Research Involving Human Participants), James F. Childress

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines Protestant positions on informed consent/refusal regarding the use of human subjects in research. Primarily focusing on the work of Paul Ramsey, a Protestant scholar in science and ethics, the article describes the relationship between the God-man covenant and man-to-man covenants and the consequences thereof. Exploring the line between what Ramsey calls "charity" and "justice," the article finds differences between therapeutic and nontherapeutic research and who may participate with or without consent.

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Informed Consent Without Autonomy, Daniel P. Sulmasy Jan 2002

Informed Consent Without Autonomy, Daniel P. Sulmasy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay explains why and how the Roman Catholic basis for informed consent is different from the secular basis. It argues that the Catholic basis, which is rooted in "natural law," is the better model for society to adopt. The author explains that the secular view is rooted in the belief that patient autonomy must never be violated but the Catholic view is based on human dignity, which simply requires doctors to allow patients to exercise their free will within moral limits. This view allows doctors to override patients' decisions if those decisions are morally wrong or irrational.

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The Physician's Conscience, Conscience Clauses, And Religious Belief: A Catholic Perspective, Edmund D. Pellegrino Jan 2002

The Physician's Conscience, Conscience Clauses, And Religious Belief: A Catholic Perspective, Edmund D. Pellegrino

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay explores how physicians may handle conflicts of conscience facing Roman Catholic health practitioners regarding "human life" issues, especially through conscience clauses. In five parts, the author examines "first, why conscientious objection is so important in our day; second, the moral grounding for freedom in the exercise of conscience; third, the components of the physician's conscience; fourth, specific conflicts of conscience for Catholic physicians and institutions; and fifth, competing models of conflict resolution."

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The Psychology Of Competence And Informed Consent: Understanding Decision-Making With Regard To Clinical Research, Barry Rosenfeld Jan 2002

The Psychology Of Competence And Informed Consent: Understanding Decision-Making With Regard To Clinical Research, Barry Rosenfeld

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines the importance of patient autonomy and competence in medical decision making and how questions of competence affect informed consent. The author explores three hypothetical cases which "outline the parameters of 'competence' by illustrating the methodologies used in making [determinations of competence], distinguishing between ethical and legal issues in the assessment of competence, and reviewing the procedures for surrogate decision making when competence is deemed impaired." The cases present questions on when to respect patient autonomy and when it may be appropriate to allow a surrogate to take over decision making.

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Religious Teachings And Reflections On Advance Directive - Religious Values And Legal Dilemmas In Bioethics: An Islamic Perspective, Faroque A. Khan Jan 2002

Religious Teachings And Reflections On Advance Directive - Religious Values And Legal Dilemmas In Bioethics: An Islamic Perspective, Faroque A. Khan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay analyses Islamic law and attempts to apply it to issues surrounding end-of-life care. The author concludes that Islam allows physicians to withdraw life-sustaining technologies if there is no hope for a cure, in the effort to prevent prolonged suffering.

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Response To Avery Cardinal Dulles, John D. Feerick Jan 2002

Response To Avery Cardinal Dulles, John D. Feerick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Dean Feerick responds to Avery Cardinal Dulles's essay and lecture "Catholic Social Teaching and American Legal Practice," 30 Fordham Urb. L.J., 277 (2002) (available at http://new.fordhamj.org/demonstration/dc/v30/27_30FordhamUrbLJ277(2002-2003).pdf). He expands upon the application of Catholic teachings to legal practice and highlights Fordham Law's implementation of those ideals.

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Don't Believe Everything You Think: Cognitive Bias In Legal Decision Making, Ian Weinstein Jan 2002

Don't Believe Everything You Think: Cognitive Bias In Legal Decision Making, Ian Weinstein

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the role of cognitive bias in legal decision making. Drawing on research in cognitive science and law, it explores the impact of cognitive bias on both lawyers and clients. These often subtle mental biases can lead to pervasive errors in decision making by causing us to ignore important information and make inaccurate predictions. They may lead a client to underestimate the risk of litigation. They may also lead a lawyer to miscategorize a client's value choice as a misjudgement of fact. The article offers illustrative stories of the impact of bias on both client and lawyer and …

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Maccrate's Missed Opportunity: The Maccrate Report's Failure To Advance Professional Values Symposium, Russell G. Pearce Jan 2002

Maccrate's Missed Opportunity: The Maccrate Report's Failure To Advance Professional Values Symposium, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

The 1992 Report of the Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession: Narrowing the Gap (the "Task Force"), Legal Education Professional Development - An Educational Continuum, popularly known as the MacCrate Report (the "Report"), was the most ambitious effort to reform legal education in the past generation. Some commentators have described the Report as "the greatest proposed paradigm shift in legal education since Langdell envisioned legal education as the pursuit of legal science through the case method in the late 19th century.” Although the Report sought to promote education in both lawyering skills and values, its major influence has …

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Legal Ethics Must Be The Heart Of The Law School Curriculum Symposium: Recommitting To Teaching Legal Ethics- Shaping Our Teaching In A Changing World, Russell G. Pearce Jan 2002

Legal Ethics Must Be The Heart Of The Law School Curriculum Symposium: Recommitting To Teaching Legal Ethics- Shaping Our Teaching In A Changing World, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

Despite what seems to be far greater attention paid to the teaching of legal ethics than to any other law school subject, legal ethics remains no better than a second class subject in the eyes of students and faculty. This essay suggests that all efforts at innovation in legal ethics teaching are doomed to a marginal impact at best. Only recognition that legal ethics is the most important subject in the law school curriculum will lead to real and significant changes in the teaching of legal ethics. If the commitment of the legal profession and of legal academia to producing …

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Counseling The Client: An Administrator's View, Daniel A. Degnan Jan 2001

Counseling The Client: An Administrator's View, Daniel A. Degnan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines what natural law is and how it should be used as an approach for lawyers. The article first describes that the theory of natural law and positive law is to attain the goal of effecting the common good. Daniel Degnan considers cases from his experience as a law school dean and how the counselors in those cases made good use of a natural law approach. Although the lawyers in all these cases were practitioners advising clients, elements of the common good seems to have been implicit in their handling of every one of the cases. He explains …

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Bar Association Ethics Committees: Are They Broken Conference On Legal Ethics: What Needs Fixing, Bruce A. Green Jan 2001

Bar Association Ethics Committees: Are They Broken Conference On Legal Ethics: What Needs Fixing, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the work of bar association ethics committees. These are committees established by bar associations to give advice to lawyers about how to comply with the applicable rules of professional conduct. My question is, are these committees broken? Over the past two decades, several legal academics have concluded that they are. At its harshest, the critique is that ethics committees, typified by the American Bar Association's ("ABA") ethics committee, publish opinions that respond to trivial questions by providing poorly reasoned answers on which nobody can or does rely, and that the reason that the committees' opinions are inadequate …

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Reflections On The Ethics Of Legal Academics: Law Schools As Mdps; Or, Should Law Professors Practice What They Teach Symposium: Ethics Of Law Professors, Bruce A. Green Jan 2001

Reflections On The Ethics Of Legal Academics: Law Schools As Mdps; Or, Should Law Professors Practice What They Teach Symposium: Ethics Of Law Professors, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

[A member of the House of Commons said in Samuel Johnson's presence] that he paid no regard to the arguments of counsel at the bar of the House of Commons, because they were paid for speaking. JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, argument is argument. You cannot help paying regard to their arguments, if they are good, If it were testimony, you might disregard it, if you knew that it were purchased. There is a beautiful image in Bacon upon this subject: testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow; the force of it depends on the hand that draws it. …

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Lawyer And Public Service, The Historical Perspectives On Pro Bono Lawyering, Russell G. Pearce Jan 2001

Lawyer And Public Service, The Historical Perspectives On Pro Bono Lawyering, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

Historically, the first way of viewing the lawyer's role was as a member of America's governing class. Second came cause lawyering on behalf of a particular issue. Third, and most recently, arose the idea of pro bono lawyering, a less ambitious incarnation of the governing class lawyer who contributes time to helping cause lawyers. These categories are not rigid: for each individual they may overlap to one degree or another. This framework is preliminary and requires further research and development. Nonetheless, it provides a useful tool for explaining how lawyers-and in particular the heroic lawyers described in this symposium-connect to …

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Faith And The Lawyer's Practice Symposium: Law Religion And The Public Good, Russell G. Pearce Jan 2001

Faith And The Lawyer's Practice Symposium: Law Religion And The Public Good, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

If there is a religious way to read, is there a religious way to be a lawyer? More and more lawyers, judges and scholars are answering yes to that question. We heard earlier from Cardinal Bevilacqua about the history of the Religious Lawyering Movement, which blossomed in the 1990s. There was writing about the law and religion before that time." We can date religious lawyering as a body of work in mainstream legal literature, as Cardinal Bevilacqua did, to the work of Professor Thomas Shaffer in the 1980s.Why did this movement take off in the 1990s? Again, what accounts for …

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Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love Jan 2000

Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the President's ability to grant Federal Pardons, and the moral and political factors which influence the exercise of that power. The article proposes that the President has a duty to pardon, not so much as to do justice in particular cases, but to be merciful as a more general obligation of office.

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Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love Jan 2000

Of Pardons, Politics And Collar Buttons: Reflections On The President's Duty To Be Merciful, Margaret Colgate Love

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A discussion of the President's ability to grant Federal Pardons, and the moral and political factors which influence the exercise of that power. The article proposes that the President has a duty to pardon, not so much as to do justice in particular cases, but to be merciful as a more general obligation of office.

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Lawyering For Social Change, Karen L. Loewy Jan 2000

Lawyering For Social Change, Karen L. Loewy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note explores the significance, legitimacy and methodology of lawyering for social change. It begins by examining lawyers' motives for entering into such work and the theoretical approaches toward political lawyering and the methodologies employed to effect change. It raises the question of whether it is justifiable for a lawyer to drive social change specifically considering his unique access to the legal system. The Note concludes that it is entirely legitimate for a lawyer to engage in work for social change in order to ensure that the rights of all people are protected whether through litigation, public education seminars, rallies, …

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Lawyer Role, Agency Law, And The Characterization Officer Of The Court , James A. Cohen Jan 2000

Lawyer Role, Agency Law, And The Characterization Officer Of The Court , James A. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

The law of agency has governed American lawyers since before the Revolution, but recent scholarship about legal ethics and professional role almost entirely ignores it. Most commentators would concede that attorneys are agents, but would quickly add that the lawyer is also an "officer of the court" who has obligations to seek justice. However, analysis of the phrase "officer of the court" reveals that it has surprisingly little content; it is mostly rhetoric, caused by self-love and self-promotion. What little content it has points to a role of the attorney as agent whose obligations to the court are almost identical …

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A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, Jack L. Sammons Jan 2000

A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, Jack L. Sammons

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A modernization of St. Thomas More's famous 1529 "Dialogue Concerning Heresies." A fictional "Judge More" defends the legal profession against the zeal of legal ethicists.

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A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, Jack L. Sammons Jan 2000

A Dialogue Concerning Heresies, Jack L. Sammons

Fordham Urban Law Journal

A modernization of St. Thomas More's famous 1529 "Dialogue Concerning Heresies." A fictional "Judge More" defends the legal profession against the zeal of legal ethicists.

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Public Declarations Of Professionalism Professionalism Symposium, Bruce A. Green Jan 2000

Public Declarations Of Professionalism Professionalism Symposium, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

When it comes to the subject of "professionalism," there is a gap between the leaders of the organized bar and its members. Bar leaders are eager to discuss the subject. For example, this year's annual meeting of the American Bar Association ("ABA") afforded bar leaders, as well as legal academics, a host of opportunities to share strategies to promote "professionalism" and "professional values." The Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar sponsored a program on "Professionalism in Law Schools and the Profession." Organizations representing bar executives, bar presidents, and bar foundations jointly presented a program called "Tough Talk, …

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Informal Aggregation: Procedural And Ethical Implications Of Coordination Among Counsel In Related Lawsuits, Howard M. Erichson Jan 2000

Informal Aggregation: Procedural And Ethical Implications Of Coordination Among Counsel In Related Lawsuits, Howard M. Erichson

Faculty Scholarship

Even when related claims are not aggregated by any formal procedural mechanism, the lawyers involved in the separate lawsuits often coordinate their efforts. Such "informal aggregation" raises important questions about the boundaries of a dispute and the boundaries of the lawyer-client relationship. As an ethical matter, the central question is whether a lawyer owes ethical duties to a coordinating lawyer's client. Looking at confidentiality, loyalty, conflicts of interest, and malpractice, Professor Erichson suggests that ethical safeguards for clients of coordinating lawyers are neither strong enough nor explicit enough to provide adequate protection, and the problem inheres in the nature of …

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Religion And The Public Defender, Sadiq Reza Jan 1999

Religion And The Public Defender, Sadiq Reza

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay argues that the public defender should not undertake, or fail to undertake, any action to the legal detriment of a client on the basis of a conflict the attorney perceives between religious and professional responsibility, except for imminent death or serious bodily harm to another. Having accepted the responsibility of representing indigent criminal defendants, the public defender is duty-bound to not compromise that responsibility for competing religious obligations. This argument rests on four premises: (1) the public defender occupies a unique position in our legal system, and options available to private interest lawyers or other clients should not …

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