Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Open Chambers?, Richard W. Painter

Michigan Law Review

Edward Lazarus has written the latest account of what goes on behind the marble walls of the Supreme Court. His book is not the first to selectively reveal confidential communications between the Justices and their law clerks. Another book, Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong's The Brethren2 achieved that distinction in 1979. Closed Chambers: The First Eyewitness Account of the Epic Struggles Inside the Supreme Court, however, adds a new twist. Whereas The Brethren was written by journalists who persuaded former law clerks to breach the confidences of the Justices, Lazarus was himself a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun. Closed …

Apparently Substantial, Oddly Hollow: The Enigmatic Practice Of Justice, Heidi Li Feldman

Michigan Law Review

The Practice of Justice: A Theory of Lawyers' Ethics, by William H. Simon, is one of the most thoughtful and important books in legal theory - not just legal ethics - published in the past ten years. Like David Luban's seminal contribution to legal ethics, Lawyers and Justice: An Ethical Study, published a decade ago, Simon's book is a deliberate rival to accounts of lawyers' professional responsibility that begin with a command to zealous advocacy, end with a prohibition on outright illegal conduct, and offer nothing in between. Authors and commentators have grown increasingly dissatisfied with this as the basic …

Endangering Individual Autonomy In Choice Of Lawyers And Trustees–Misconceived Conflict Of Interest Claims In The Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate Litigation, James R. Mccall

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Basic Concern For Process: Commentary On Quo Vadis, Prospective Overruling, James R. Mccall

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Minnesota V. Philip Morris, Inc.: An Important Legal Ethics Message Which Neglects The Public Interest In Product Safety Research, James R. Mccall, Edward J. Imwinkelried

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Loss Of Earning Capcity Benefits In The Community Property Jurisdiction - How Do You Figure., Aloysius A. Leopold

St. Mary's Law Journal

In the interest of uniformity, benefits for the loss of earning capacity should be subject to the same legal principle when determining marital property rights, regardless of the context in which those rights arise. However, courts throughout the United States have relied upon four different methods to determine title to loss of earning capacity benefits upon divorce. These approaches include the unitary approach, the analytic approach, the mechanistic approach, and the case-by-case approach. Because the determination of title to benefits varies tremendously, the need for certainty in this area of the law is necessary particularly in light of the Texas …

A Proposal To Require Lawyers To Disclose Information About Procedural Matters, William H. Fortune

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In the absence of a rule clearly requiring disclosure, a lawyer is obligated not to disclose information which is adverse to the interests of a client. However, judges should be able to expect lawyers to disclose information about procedural matters. This Article argues that Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3 should be amended to require disclosure of information about procedural matters. Part I describes the events in Potter v. Eli Lilly & Co., a case involving a secret settlement related to Prozac. Part II makes the argument for a rule requiring disclosure of procedural information. Part III describes how …

Coaching Witnesses, Fred C. Zacharias, Shaun Martin

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Friends Of The Court? The Ethics Of Amicus Brief Writing In First Amendment Litigation, Allison Lucas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article explores the ethics of writing amicus briefs as they relate to defamation and privacy issues by focusing on two specific cases, Rice v. Paladin and Khawar v. Globe, International. It begins with a history of amicus curaie briefs, followed by a discussion of the two cases. In Paladin, a family sued a publishing company arguing that a book it published aided and abetted a murder. In Khawar, a photo was wrongly placed in a book and was subsequently printed in a newspaper. In both cases, amicus briefs were submitted on the part of the defendants from large media …

Disciplinary Restrictions On Multidisciplinary Practice: Their Derivation, Their Development, And Some Implications For The Core Values Debate The Future Of The Profession: A Symposium On Multidisciplinary Practice, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Many of the legal profession's disciplinary rules are of venerable lineage. For example, the provisions of contemporary disciplinary codes concerning conflicts of interest derive from the 1908 Canons of Professional Ethics (Canons), which, in turn, can be traced back to late nineteenth century state ethics codes, to mid-nineteenth-century lectures and writings, 3 and to earlier common-law agency principles. Although lawyers to- day disagree about what the precise contours of the conflict rules should be, these rules embody basic principles of loyalty, competence and confidentiality that are fundamental, traditional, and universally supported by lawyers. These are defining principles for the practice …

Law Day 2050: Post-Professinalism, Moral Leadership, And The Law-As-Business Paradigm Symposium, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

Inspired by Ted Schneyer's future history of professional discipline' and Bob Gordon's descrption of "the hazy aspirational world" of the "Law Day Sermon,' I offer a vision of the legal profession 'a next fifty years in the form of a Law Day speech from the year 2050. Looking back on developments in the first half of the twenty-first century, this piece explores the implications of the analysis proposed in my earlier article, The Professionalism Paradigm Shift: Why Discarding Professional Ideology Will Improve the Conduct and Reputation of the Bar. The speech presents a projection of the moral leadership the bar …

Lawyers, Accountants, And The Battle To Own Professional Services, Gary A. Munneke

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Competition between lawyers and accountants is not a new concept. At various times during the past century, these two professions have clashed over the scope and definition of their respective services. Lawyers traditionally have relied upon a professional monopoly to provide “legal” services as a device to exclude nonlawyers from the practice of law. Supported by statutes in many jurisdictions making the unauthorized practice of law a criminal offense and ethics rules prohibiting lawyers from assisting in the unauthorized practice of law, lawyers have always been able to identify some inner sanctum of professional services that only they could handle. …

Review Of "Trying Cases: A Life In The Law" By Haliburtan Fales Ii, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Of Cell Phones And Electronic Mail: Disclosure Of Confidential Information Under Disciplinary Rule 4-101 And Model Rule 1.6, Karin M. Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Regardless of the known security risks, it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a law firm in the twentieth century operating without the technological advancements that make it possible to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time. These advancements often enable immediate responses that are beneficial to attorneys and clients alike. Cellular phone usage and electronic mail are an integral mode of communication between firm members, negotiating attorneys, as well as between attorneys and their clients. While it has developed into a mode of communication making the practice of law more efficient, it is doubtful that most attorneys give …

Prosecuting Race, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

Theoreticians and practitioners in the American criminal justice system increasingly debate the role of racial identity, racialized narratives, and race-neutral representation in law, lawyering, and ethics.

This debate holds special bearing on the growing prosecution and defense of acts of racially motivated violence. In this continuing investigation of the prosecution and defense of such violence, Professor Alfieri examines the recent federal prosecution of five white New York City police officers charged with assaulting Abner Louima, a young male Haitian immigrant, in 1997. Professor Alfieri presents a race conscious, community-oriented model of prosecutorial discretion guided by constitutional precepts, citizenship ideals, professionalism …

Can A Religious Person Be A Big Firm Litigator? , Amelia J. Uelmen

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay takes on the challenge of describing some of the ways in which values often defined as "personal" or "religious" can be integrated into the practice of law at a large firm. Part I describes some of the aspects of big firm practice that make it particularly difficult to integrate religious and personal values which may give meaning to one's work. Part II suggests that such meaning can be found through a religious vision of what it means to be a person, which includes a sense of obligation to serve the common good. Part III explores how this concept …

Evaluating Effective Lawyer-Client Communication: An International Project Moving From Research To Reform, Clark D. Cunningham

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

1999 (Undated), Ifc, Historical Summary Leading To Cao, Annex A, Cao

CAO General 1999-Present

No abstract provided.

Cautionary Tale From The Multidisciplinary Practice Debate: How The Traditionalists Lost Professionalism, A The Phyllis W. Beck Chair In Law Symposium: New Roles, No Rules - Redefining Lawyers' Work - Redefining Lawyers' Work: Multidisciplinary Practice, Russell G. Pearce, Amelia J. Uelmen:

Faculty Scholarship

The author presents a fictional conversation among Lawrence J. Fox, other noted legal scholars, and himself concerning the ethics and changes in the legal profession.

Ethical Issues For Lawyers On The Internet And World-Wide Web, J. T. Westermeier

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The Internet is experiencing explosive growth. The global World Wide Web and Internet are being embraced by the legal community at a phenomenal pace. More and more lawyers are using the Web to promote their practices, disseminate information, communicate with clients and prospective clients, conduct legal research, and carry on the practice of law. This growing use of the Web by lawyers, both nationally and internationally, is raising numerous complex ethical questions.

State Regulation Of Federal Prosecutors: The Impact On Contact With Represented Persons In Virginia, Robert H. Burger

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The first section of this paper analyzes the ethics rule promulgated by the Department of Justice. The DOJ rule governs those circumstances in which federal prosecutors may communicate with individuals known to be represented by counsel, without the consent of such counsel. The second and third sections of this paper discuss the judicial and statutory rejection of the DOJ rule respectively. First, in O'Keefe v. McDonnell Douglas," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reasoned that the DOJ lacked authority to promulgate their ethics rule. As a result of this conclusion, the Eighth Circuit held the DOJ rule …

Face-Ing The Other: An Ethics Of Encounter And Solidarity In Legal Services Practice, Marie Failinger

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, the author proposes that those who work in any capacity with impoverished clients and embattled minority communities imagine practice from within Levinas' key images. First, that ethics is first philosophy - that knowledge of the self, the Other and the context in which ethical action is possible does not precede ethical understanding, decision-making and action, but that rather that we become human in the ethical encounter with the incommensurable Other. Second, that representing a client is in each moment an encounter with the face of the Other. We look up into the face of the Other calling …

A Proposal To Require Lawyers To Disclose Information About Procedural Matters, William H. Fortune

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In the absence of a rule clearly requiring disclosure, a lawyer is obligated not to disclose information which is adverse to the interests of a client. However, judges should be able to expect lawyers to dislose information about procedural matters. This Article argues that Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3 should be amended to require disclosure of information about procedural matters. Part I describes the events in Potter v. Eli Lilly & Co., a case involving a secret settlement related to Prozac. Part II makes the argument for a rule requiring disclosure of procedural information. Part III describes how …

The Professional And The Liar, Richard H. Underwood

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Many individuals in society think that all lawyers are liars. Some think lawyers are allowed to lie. Regrettably, some American lawyers apparently think so too. In the United States there has been, and continues to be, a troubling lack of professional consensus when it comes to litigating a case. Indeed, lawyers who are neither corrupt nor insensitive have been accused of arguing that the elicitation of false testimony, and the use of it, is a professional responsibility. Fairness also calls for some acknowledgment that even the most cunning, zealous, and successful of trial lawyers have agonized over such moral choices. …

Renewed Introspection And The Legal Profession, Eugene R. Gaetke

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

As the twentieth century draws to a close, the legal profession again immersed in a process of self-assessment, reflection, and reform. Operating on several fronts, various constituent elements of the bar have recently completed or have underway significant projects relating to the law of lawyering.

Two efforts stand out in particular. For more than a decade, the American Law Institute has labored in the production of a new Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, and the organization stands now on the brink of that monumental work's publication. Equally significant, the American Bar Association has again undertaken a comprehensive review of …

A Nightmare On Main Street (Part Mxl): Freddie Joins An Accounting Firm, Gary A. Munneke

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The subject of multidisciplinary practice (“MDP”) has intrigued me for well over a decade. The topic has led me into new areas of research, and sometimes into the cross hairs of colleagues in the legal profession. My views have not always represented the mainstream of thinking among lawyers, and that is reflected in the title of my talk today: “A Nightmare on Main Street (Part MXL): Freddie Joins an Accounting Firm.”

Representing Defendants On Charges Of Economic Crime: Unethical When Done For A Fee, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Living "Top-Down" In A "Bottom-Up" World: Musings On The Relationship Between Jewish Ethics And Legal Ethics, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article discusses the differences between how Jewish ethics are disseminated and how legal ethics are created, and it walks the reader through some classic examples of the conflicts between the two.

Moral Bankruptcy: Modeling Appropriate Attorney Behavior In Bankruptcy Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This essay discusses how important it is for lawyers, especially senior lawyers, to model appropriate behavior so that the newest lawyers learn how best to behave professionally.

Limited Representation: Helping Clients While Protecting Yourself, Mary E. Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

The lawyer-client relationship is defined by what the client retains the lawyer to do, and that retention may be as general or specific as the lawyer and client desire. The Nevada Supreme Court has recognized that even with regard to “a particular transaction or dispute, an attorney may be specifically employed in a limited capacity.” This freedom to contract for broader or narrower representation benefits both lawyers and clients. No lawyer can be a true generalist anymore, and most clients cannot afford the full range of representation that the legal profession offers on a single matter.