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

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons™

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

Seattle University School of Law

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type

Articles 301 - 320 of 320

Full-Text Articles in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Rethinking Attorney Liens: Why Washington Attorneys Are Forced Into "Involuntary" Pro Bono, Zach Elsner Jan 2004

Rethinking Attorney Liens: Why Washington Attorneys Are Forced Into "Involuntary" Pro Bono, Zach Elsner

Seattle University Law Review

After a brief discussion of the history of the attorney lien in Part II, Part III discusses the basic rules governing the attorney lien in Washington. Part IV of this Comment discusses the various limitations on attorney liens and how those limitations have discouraged use or encouraged misuse of the statute. Part IV begins with a discussion of general professional responsibility concerns and continues with withdrawal and termination as they relate to attorney liens. Part IV concludes the Comment with a discussion of the inconsistencies of the retaining lien and a discussion of the various limitations on the charging liens.

Go to article

Gambling With Ethics And Constitutional Rights: A Look At Issues Involved With Contingent Fee Arrangements In Criminal Defense Practice, Adam Silberlight Jan 2004

Gambling With Ethics And Constitutional Rights: A Look At Issues Involved With Contingent Fee Arrangements In Criminal Defense Practice, Adam Silberlight

Seattle University Law Review

This Article attempts to shed light on the use of a contingent fee arrangement in criminal defense, and offers differing views pertaining to this topic. First, this Article will generally describe what a contingent fee is. Second, the role and potential application of the contingent fee in both criminal and civil settings will be discussed. Third, problems associated with such an arrangement in criminal defense practice will be addressed, as will certain positive aspects of such an arrangement. Finally, this article will discuss how lawmakers could address this issue to ensure that contingency arrangements cannot be abused.

Go to article

The "Watchman For Truth": Professional Licensing And The First Amendment, Robert Kry Jan 2000

The "Watchman For Truth": Professional Licensing And The First Amendment, Robert Kry

Seattle University Law Review

This Article addresses a particular aspect of many kinds of professional practice: the rendering of advice to clients. Drawing on their knowledge and experience, professionals may recommend a certain course of action to their clients in the course of their practice. The client may then assess the recommendation and decide whether or not to act on it. This aspect of professional practice involves a speech-related activity, so government regulation might raise at least a colorable First Amendment issue. This Article also focuses on a particular aspect of the regulation of professional advice, namely, licensure. When professional advice rendering activities are …

Go to article

The Ethics Of Advocacy For The Mentally Ill: Philosophic And Ethnographic Considerations, Bruce A. Arrigo, Christopher R. Williams Jan 2000

The Ethics Of Advocacy For The Mentally Ill: Philosophic And Ethnographic Considerations, Bruce A. Arrigo, Christopher R. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, we critically address several philosophical underpinnings of ethical decision-making that impact persons with psychiatric disorders. We focus our attention, however, upon an admittedly limited target area. Thus, we canvass a select number of significant issues that pose unique problems for humanity. The purpose of these excursions is that of reflection. In brief, we will speculatively examine: (1) the relationship between human rights and the law; (2) the relationship between mental illness and the law (i.e. the rights of the mentally ill); (3) the ethics of involuntary confinement (i.e., taking away and giving back rights to the mentally …

Go to article

Legal Ethics And A Civil Action, Kevin E. Mohr Jan 1999

Legal Ethics And A Civil Action, Kevin E. Mohr

Seattle University Law Review

This Article shows how A Civil Action can be used to supplement a course in Professional Responsibility. A Civil Action contains many events that can similarly be used to introduce students to ethical dilemmas they will confront when they enter the profession. These events can breathe life into otherwise dry discussions of acceptable ethical behavior as set out in ethical codes. In accord with the Lessons from Woburn Project's goal to make A Civil Action and its associated materials into a powerful teaching tool, the book's events vividly illustrate the ethical parameters within which a lawyer must operate, ethical parameters …

Go to article

The Morality Of Choice: Estate Planning And The Client Who Chooses Not To Choose, Janet L. Dolgin Jan 1998

The Morality Of Choice: Estate Planning And The Client Who Chooses Not To Choose, Janet L. Dolgin

Seattle University Law Review

The Symposium focuses around two hypotheticals. The question posed about each-whether it is ethical for an estate lawyer to represent spouses, one of whom chooses subservience to the interests of the other-provokes discussion of a broad set of concerns about the scope and meaning of the contemporary family, and about the appropriate parameters of legal representation of family members.

Go to article

Foreword To Symposium On "Should The Family Be Represented As An Entity?": Reexamining The Family Values Of Legal Ethics, Russell G. Pearce Jan 1998

Foreword To Symposium On "Should The Family Be Represented As An Entity?": Reexamining The Family Values Of Legal Ethics, Russell G. Pearce

Seattle University Law Review

This symposium on whether the family should be represented as an entity marks another milestone in the development of legal ethics as a field central to understanding the operation of law in our society, and not merely as a set of dry, largely irrelevant rules. It does so by acknowledging that ethical rules of lawyers who represent families have very real consequences for those families. Building on earlier efforts to address this topic, this symposium's authors confront what some commentators have described as the individualist impulse of the ethics codes and whether this impulse is beneficial or harmful to families.

Go to article

The Power Of Narrative: Listening To The Initial Client Interview, Raven Lidman Jan 1998

The Power Of Narrative: Listening To The Initial Client Interview, Raven Lidman

Seattle University Law Review

As I thought about the hypothetical situations posed for consideration by this symposium, I envisioned distinct individuals in context, speaking particular words. I decided to write the initial consultation out as a dialogue to see what happened to the ideas and the interactions as these three, the lawyer, husband, and wife, explored them. I, thus, chose to turn a hypothetical into a real situation. By selecting this format, I was only able to focus on the first hypothetical. This one was perhaps the most challenging for me personally. As a feminist and a family law lawyer, I have struggled and …

Go to article

Love Among The Ruins: The Ethics Of Counseling Happily Married Couples, Teresa Stanton Collett Jan 1998

Love Among The Ruins: The Ethics Of Counseling Happily Married Couples, Teresa Stanton Collett

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explores the professional tension experienced by lawyers when clients embrace an ideal of marriage as "the two shall become as one," in a legal system that has repudiated this understanding in favor of the "reality" of marriage as an association dedicated to the individual fulfillment of the man and woman involved. Part II describes the three purposes of estate planning that define the parameters of any proposed representation. Estate planning lawyers assist clients in minimizing taxes, directing gifts to particular beneficiaries, and insuring the continuing care of loved ones. The decision to accept or reject proposed representation often …

Go to article

Family Matters: Nonwaivable Conflicts Of Interest In Family Law, Steven H. Hobbs Jan 1998

Family Matters: Nonwaivable Conflicts Of Interest In Family Law, Steven H. Hobbs

Seattle University Law Review

The hypotheticals prepared for this special symposium issue ask if a lawyer can provide legal services to a family when one family member yields major decision-making authority to another family member. At stake is the disposition of significant individual and family assets. The traditional model of legal representation would require each family member to have an advocate protecting and promoting his or her individual interests while negotiating a reasonable accommodation of the other family members' interests. The challenge presented by the hypotheticals is whether an attorney can simultaneously represent apparent multiple interests without violating ethical provisions.

Go to article

Dependency And Delegation: The Ethics Of Marital Representation, Naomi Cahn, Robert Tuttle Jan 1998

Dependency And Delegation: The Ethics Of Marital Representation, Naomi Cahn, Robert Tuttle

Seattle University Law Review

The two hypotheticals for this symposium concern a lawyer who is asked to represent a married couple in which one spouse would like to cede decision-making authority to the other. As we have examined the lawyer's ethical responsibilities, we have identified two distinct, but conceptually related, issues of legal ethics. The first, a threshold question, deals with the nature of marital representation: May a lawyer simultaneously represent both husband and wife? And if so, how should the representation be structured? The second adds an additional layer of complexity: If a lawyer represents both husband and wife, may the lawyer accept …

Go to article

In Re The Exxon Valdez: The Danger Of Deception In A Novel Mary Carter Agreement, Amy Edwards Wood Jan 1997

In Re The Exxon Valdez: The Danger Of Deception In A Novel Mary Carter Agreement, Amy Edwards Wood

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses the legality and ethics of the secret agreement between Exxon and the Seattle Seven by analogy to a similar type of collusive agreement called a "Mary Carter" agreement. Part I of this Note looks at the terms of the Exxon/Seattle Seven agreements. Part II examines Judge Holland's controversial decision with respect to the Exxon/Seattle Seven agreements. Part III describes the nature of a Mary Carter agreement and the factors used to determine whether such an agreement exists. Then Part IV argues that, like Mary Carter agreements, the Exxon/Seattle Seven agreements undercut the jury system, prolong litigation, contravene …

Go to article

You Wanna Do What? Attorneys Organizing As Limited Liability Partnerships And Companies: An Economic Analysis, Mark Rosencrantz Jan 1996

You Wanna Do What? Attorneys Organizing As Limited Liability Partnerships And Companies: An Economic Analysis, Mark Rosencrantz

Seattle University Law Review

Although many states have embraced the concept of limited liability for attorneys, approval is not universal. Rhode Island and California statutorily ban attorneys from practicing in such forms. Further, even those states that have embraced the concept recognize concerns that, under a limited liability scheme, the quality of attorney work may suffer, and sufficient funds may not be available for potential plaintiffs. This Comment argues that attorneys should be allowed to limit their liability by using the LLP and LLC forms to provide relief from the upsurge of liability because traditional arguments against attorneys' use of such forms ignore the …

Go to article

Bias In The Washington Courts: A Call For Reform, Melisa D. Evangelos Jan 1993

Bias In The Washington Courts: A Call For Reform, Melisa D. Evangelos

Seattle University Law Review

Because of the documented threat that racial and gender bias pose to the effective administration of justice in Washington, this Comment advocates amending the Washington Rules of Professional Conduct to explicitly make intentional gender and racial bias an act of attorney misconduct and to discipline any attorney who engages in such behavior. Section I of this Comment identifies and describes instances of attorney behavior that result in gender and racial bias and explains the impact of such bias on attorneys, clients, and the judicial system. Section II explores similar anti-bias rules proposed or in place in other states. Section III …

Go to article

Introduction: Multidimensional Lawyering And Professional Responsibility, Margaret Chon Jan 1992

Introduction: Multidimensional Lawyering And Professional Responsibility, Margaret Chon

Faculty Articles

Professor Margaret Chon introduces three following articles in which the authors posit the identity of the lawyer not just as client representative, but in the multiple roles of respondent to other people, entities and underlying societal values. Each article contributes to the formation of the self qua lawyer by showing how attorneys can and do respond to foils other than clients.

Go to article

The First Amendment, Commercial Speech, And The Advertising Lawyer, Justice Vernon R. Pearson, Michael O'Neill Jan 1986

The First Amendment, Commercial Speech, And The Advertising Lawyer, Justice Vernon R. Pearson, Michael O'Neill

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court, in a few cases scattered over several decades, has implied the existence of a public right to a free flow of information as one facet of the freedom of speech; yet the Court has refrained from specifically basing a decision on any such right. But with the recent line of commercial speech decisions, the concept-of a public right to a free flow of information has become firmly established and merits detailed examination. That right, and the rationale of the Court in its commercial speech cases, may have far ranging implications. This Article explores these implications in three …

Go to article

Ethical Considerations For The Justice Department When It Switches Sides During Litigation, Clifford Freed Jan 1984

Ethical Considerations For The Justice Department When It Switches Sides During Litigation, Clifford Freed

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment briefly discusses the history of Washington v. Seattle School District No. 1, and then demonstrates the difficulties in applying the present ABA Code of Professional Responsibility to certain ethical questions that can arise when the government changes its allegiance in the midst of litigation. The ethical propriety of the Department of Justice's actions is examined, and alternatives are proposed for situations in which the United States, represented in court by the Justice Department, switches sides in the same case.

Go to article

Attorney Fee Disgorgement As A Disciplinary Action, Lynn P. Barker Jan 1984

Attorney Fee Disgorgement As A Disciplinary Action, Lynn P. Barker

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment first explores reasons for the rare application of fee disgorgement as a disciplinary measure. It then examines the contexts under which courts deprive attorneys of their fees in both nondisciplinary and disciplinary proceedings. This Comment concludes that, in many cases, disgorgement of fees as a disciplinary action for attorney misconduct would most effectively protect the public, deter unethical conduct, and restore confidence in the legal profession.

Go to article

Everybody's Doing It—But Who Should Be? Standing To Make A Disqualification Motion Based On An Attorney's Representation Of A Client With Interests Adverse To Those Of A Former Client, Andra Barmash Greene Jan 1983

Everybody's Doing It—But Who Should Be? Standing To Make A Disqualification Motion Based On An Attorney's Representation Of A Client With Interests Adverse To Those Of A Former Client, Andra Barmash Greene

Seattle University Law Review

This article examines the issue of standing for disqualification motions based on an attorney’s representation of a client with interest adverse to those of a former client of the attorney. The article focuses on the appropriateness of granting standing to nonclients to make disqualification motions, particularly when the former client has not objected to the attorney’s alleged conflict of interest. First, the article examines the Model Code of Professional Responsibility provisions implicated when an attorney is charged with a conflict of interest between present and former clients to discern what rights the Code wanted to safeguard. Second, this article considers …

Go to article

Discretionary Justice: A Preliminary Inquiry, Henry Mcgee Jan 1970

Discretionary Justice: A Preliminary Inquiry, Henry Mcgee

Faculty Articles

Professor McGee reviews Discretionary Justice: A Preliminary Inquiry, by Kenneth Culp Davis. Davis, suggesting both that we are a government of men as much as of laws and that discretion begins where law ends, sets out to determine how much unnecessary discretionary power can be contracted and how necessary discretionary power can be both confined and structured.

Go to article

First Prev