Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Responding To Covid‐19: How To Navigate A Public Health Emergency Legally And Ethically, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman, Sarah A. Wetter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Widespread social separation is rapidly becoming the norm, including closure of schools and universities, tele-commuting to work, bans on large gatherings, and millions of people isolated in their homes or make-shift facilities. Bans on international travel are already pervasive. Domestic travel restrictions are exceedingly rare, but now within the realm of possibility. Officials are even discussing cordon sanitaires (guarded areas where people may not enter or leave), popularly described as “lockdowns” or mass quarantines.

When the health system becomes stretched beyond capacity, how can we ethically allocate scarce health goods and services? How can we ensure that marginalized populations can …

Tiptoeing Through The Landmines: The Evolution Of States’ Legal Ethics Authority Regarding Representing Cannabis Clients, Karen E. Boxx

Seattle University Law Review

Despite the continued federal classification of cannabis as an illegal drug, states have legalized the possession, use, production, and sale of cannabis. In order to do so, the states have created complex regulatory schemes to control and monitor the cannabis industry and satisfy the federal government concerns, such as use by minors and organized crime involvement. First, this Article presents the ethical dilemma of cannabis lawyering. Second, this Article describes the history, evolution, and current status of the various states’ pronouncements on a lawyer’s ethical duties with respect to the business and use of cannabis that may be legal under …

Folk Hero Or Legal Pariah? A Comment On The Legal Ethics Of Edgar Schmidt And Schmidt V Canada (Attorney General), Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Schmidt v Canada (Attorney General), government lawyer Edgar Schmidt sought a declaration that the Department of Justice and the Minister of Justice were misinterpreting legislation requiring the Minister to inform the House of Commons if government bills are inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Schmidt was one of the lawyers who made recommendations under that legislation. Schmidt thus presents an unusual case study in legal ethics: what should, or can, a lawyer do when a client rejects the lawyer’s advice? What if the client is the government, and the advice is about fundamental rights? This …

The Communitarian Work And Vision(S) Of Robert Cochran (And Thomas Shaffer), Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

Professor Robert Cochran's work and thought were powerfully shaped by those of his friend, mentor, and teacher, the late Professor Thomas Shaffer, a towering figure in the religious lawyering movement. A leading theme in Shaffer's writing, one that has continued through and been developed in Cochran's, is "community." This Essay explores and unpacks this theme and highlights several ways that the idea of "community" functions in their vision of the lawyer 's role and vocation.

Celebrating The Work Of Professor Bob Cochran: An Introduction, Derek T. Muller

Journal Articles

The broad and deep scope of Professor Bob Cochran's work has influenced many legal scholars over the last several decades, and it will continue to shape how we think about law, ethics, and religion for decades to come. Indeed, his co-edited volume Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought stands as the first among many efforts to do just that. This special issue of the Pepperdine Law Review celebrates that extensive and impressive body of work. And the articles here, too, emphasize that this scholarship extends beyond the concerns of this life and into concerns of the life to come.

The Attorney General's Forgotten Role As Legal Advisor To The Legislature: A Comment On Schmidt V Canada (Attorney General), Andrew Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In Schmidt v Canada (Attorney General), the Federal Court of Appeal interpreted a series of provisions requiring the Minister of Justice to inform the House of Commons if government bills or proposed regulations are “inconsistent with” the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the Canadian Bill of Rights. The Federal Court of Appeal, like the Federal Court below, held that these provisions are triggered only where there is no credible argument for consistency. In doing so, both Courts relied, in part, on a separation of powers argument. They stated that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General is not …

Legal Ethics And Canada's Military Lawyers, Andrew Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

English Abstract: Military lawyers—lawyers who are legal officers in the Canadian Forces— are virtually ignored in the Canadian legal literature. This article assesses what appear to be the most striking potential legal ethics issues facing military lawyers. Several of these issues arise because military lawyers are both lawyers and military officers at the same time, and therefore face two sets of obligations that interact in complex ways. Some issues, however, arise because of the special practice contexts of military lawyers, for example, advising military commanders on the law of armed conflict. As context for this discussion, the article examines the …

Special Counsel Investigations And Legal Ethics: The Role Of Secret Taping, Peter A. Joy

Scholarship@WashULaw

In July 2016, Michael Cohen, then presidential candidate Donald Trump’s lawyer, secretly recorded Trump discussing how they would use the publisher for the National Enquirer to purchase former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story about an alleged affair with Trump in order to stop it from becoming public before the 2016 presidential election. The National Enquirer’s publisher purchased McDougal’s story in August 2016. In a similar move to quash another alleged affair from going public in October 2016, Cohen set up a corporation to purchase adult film star Stormy Daniels’s story of her affair with Trump. Trump was elected President in …

The Established Continuing Duty, David M. Siegel, Tigran W. Eldred

Faculty Scholarship

This brief article traces the development of a new standard of practice for lawyers handling criminal cases: an obligation to assist their former clients, through affirmatively disclosing to subsequent counsel and protecting from disclosure to prosecutors, any information that may assist the former client in attacking his prior conviction – including attacking the work of his prior lawyer. This continuing duty, most recently and expansively recognized in the American Bar Association’s Standards for the Defense Function (4th Ed. 2016), reflects increased understanding of the importance of ensuring effective assistance of counsel, acknowledged in recent state and federal court decisions, opinions …

Legal Ethics And The Political Activity Of Government Lawyers, Andrew Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The ability to engage in political activity is an essential feature of a democratic society. However, the ability of government lawyers to do so is unclear. While most governments have passed legislation identifying permissible political activity of their employees, it is unclear how the professional obligations of lawyers apply in this context and how these professional obligations interact with this legislation. This article answers these questions. The duty of loyalty to the client requires most government lawyers to refrain from all political activity at the same level of government. The special professional obligations of Crown prosecutors require these lawyers to …

Orphans No More: A Review Of Elizabeth Sanderson, Government Lawyering: Duties And Ethical Challenges Of Government Lawyers, Andrew Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Elizabeth Sanderson’s Government Lawyering: Duties and Ethical Challenges of Government Lawyers is the first comprehensive and long-form assessment of why government lawyers are different than lawyers in private practice and why that difference matters. This book review essay begins by setting out Sanderson’s position on a few concepts key to legal ethics for government lawyers: a definition of government lawyers, an account of the duties that apply to them, and the identity of the client. It then goes on to highlight the book’s four major contributions: an emphasis on the role of the Deputy Attorney General as an interface between …

The “Rainmaker Film” – A Window To View Lawyers And Professional Responsibility, John P. Sahl

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article utilizes the 1997 film The Rainmaker, adapted from John Grisham's novel, as a pedagogical tool to examine the ethical challenges and professional responsibilities faced by lawyers. Through the journey of Rudy Baylor, a newly minted law graduate navigating the complexities of legal practice, the film presents scenarios that highlight issues such as client solicitation, competence, conflicts of interest, and the tension between legal ethics and personal morality. The author discusses how these cinematic portrayals can be leveraged in legal education to foster critical discussions about the ethical dimensions of lawyering and to bridge the gap between theoretical instruction …

Lawyers In The Mist: The Golden Age Of Legal Nostalgia, Marc Galanter

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No one watching the contemporary furor over the litigation explosion and lawsuits devouring America can fail to be impressed by the power of folklore to overwhelm workaday organized social knowledge. Time and again, the protestations of bean-counters and skeptics are vanquished by stories about perverse institutions peopled by malingering plaintiffs, greedy lawyers, capricious jurors, and arrogant judges, proving yet again that it is not what is so that matters, but what people—at least for the moment—think is so. Tenacious belief may not make it so, but can have powerful effects.

In this essay I address another cluster of folklore about …

The Fault In Legal Ethics, Anthony T. Kronman

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

“The Lost Lawyer” Regained: The Abiding Values Of The Legal Profession, Robert Maccrate

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Money Didn’T Buy Happiness, Lawrence J. Fox

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Law Firm Economics And Professionalism, Ward Bower

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Both Dean Kronman in The Lost Lawyer and Professor Glendon in A Nation Under Lawyers attribute some of the problems and challenges facing lawyers today to economic pressures and to a preoccupation with profits and fees. For Kronman, this economic focus interferes with the “moral detachment” necessary for achievement of the “lawyer-statesman” ideal. For Glendon, professional dilemmas caused by the deterioration of the legal economy, competition in the marketplace, lawyer-shopping by clients, early specialization, lack of mentoring and emphasis on the billable hour have created an unhappy generation of ethically challenged practitioners.

Both authors accurately assess the state of the …

A Guide To Legal Research In Virginia, Joyce Manna Janto

Law Faculty Publications

The primary goal of this new edition of A Guide to Legal Research in Virginia is to expand coverage in several chapters and to add a new chapter covering legal ethics materials. This edition also notes changes in the URLs for many Virginia government websites. Most of these changes are likely based on changes in administrations and technological upgrades. The researcher should be aware that there is a lack of consistency among Virginia government web addresses. Changes in the operation and coverage of the major legal databases are noted where appropriate. Today, Virginia practitioners have a wide variety of resources, …

Designing And Improving A System Of Proactive Management-Based Regulation To Help Lawyers And Protect The Public, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

Increasingly, lawyers and decision-makers are recognizing the limitations and consequences of current approaches to attorney regulation. Inspired by developments in other countries, regulators in the United States and Canada have started the process of exploring innovative approaches, including proactive management-based regulation. The term, proactive-management regulation (PMBR), was first used by Professor Ted Schneyer to refer to a regulatory approach designed to promote ethical law practice by assisting lawyers with practice management.

The seed for PMBR was first planted in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It grew out of the legislation that allowed limited liability and non-lawyer ownership …

Establishing Best Billing Practices Through Billing Guidelines: Fostering Trust And Transparency On Legal Costs, Laura Johnson, Howard Tollin, Marci Waterman, Sarah Mills-Dirlam

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remarks: The Declining Role Of Outside Counsel In Enhancing Ethical Conduct By Corporations, Jed S. Rakoff

Seattle University Law Review

Judge Rakoff’s remarks from the seventh annual Berle Symposium, held May 26–27, 2015 at Seattle University School of Law.

Of Lodestars And Lawyers: Incorporating The Duty Of Loyalty Into The Model Code Of Conduct, Colin Jackson, Richard Devlin, Brent Cotter

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The “conflicts quartet” of cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada can be understood as part of a long-standing tension in Anglo-Canadian jurisprudence between two competing conceptions of a lawyer’s professional identity. In the most recent of these cases, C.N. Railway v. McKercher, the Supreme Court conclusively preferred the loyalty-centred conception of the practice of law over the entrepreneurial conception. While the Federation of Law Societies of Canada amended its Model Code of Professional Conduct in 2014 in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in McKercher, this article argues that those amendments did not go far enough. The authors …

Insights From Psychology: Teaching Behavioral Legal Ethics As A Core Element Of Professional Responsibility, Tigran W. Eldred

Faculty Scholarship

The field of behavioral legal ethics—which draws on a large body of empirical research to explore how subtle and often unconscious psychological factors influence ethical decision-making by lawyers—has gained significant attention recently, including by many scholars who have called for a pedagogy that incorporates behavioral lessons into the professional responsibility curriculum. This Article provides one of the first comprehensive accounts of how law teachers can meet this challenge. Based on an approach that employs a variety of experiential techniques to immerse students in the contextual and emotional aspects of legal practice, it provides a detailed model of how to teach …

A Behavioral Theory Of Legal Ethics, Andrew M. Perlman

Indiana Law Journal

Behavioral insights have informed many areas of law, including the field of professional responsibility. Those insights, however, have had only a modest effect on the foundational theories of legal ethics, even though those theories are, at their core, prescriptions about human behavior. The reality is that lawyers’ conduct cannot be understood, theorized about, or used to produce the best possible regulations without an appreciation for the limits on human rationality and objectivity. A behavioral theory of legal ethics offers a way to incorporate those realties into the foundational debates on a lawyer’s professional role so that scholars can produce more …

Addressing Access To Justice Through New Legal Service Providers: Opportunities And Challenges, Alice Woolley, Trevor C. W. Farrow

Articles & Book Chapters

Most informed observers of the Canadian and American legal systems accept the existence of a significant crisis in access to justice. One possible solution is to permit paralegals, notaries or other licensed individuals with training more limited than that enjoyed by a licensed attorney to practice in certain areas of law. This paper supports these developments, arguing for a regulated and incremental introduction of new legal service providers into the legal services market. It considers the appropriate training and scope of practice for new legal service providers, and some of the associated opportunities and challenges.

Transformations In Health Law Practice: The Intersections Of Changes In Healthcare And Legal Workplaces, Louise G. Trubek, Barbara Zabawa, Paula Galowitz

Faculty Works

The passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act is propelling transformations in health care. The transformations include integration of clinics and hospitals, value based care, patient centeredness, transparency, computerized business models and universal coverage. These shifts are influencing the practice of health law, a vibrant specialty field considered a "hot" area for new lawyers. The paper examines how the transformations in health care are intersecting with ongoing trends in law practice: increase in in-house positions, collaboration between medical and legal professionals, and the continued search for increased access to legal representation for ordinary people. Three health law workplace sites …

Lawyer Ethics And The Financial Action Task Force: A Call To Action, John P. Sahl

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the ethical responsibilities of lawyers in the context of global anti-money laundering (AML) efforts, particularly focusing on the role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It discusses the implications of FATF's recommendations for the legal profession and emphasizes the need for lawyers to actively engage in combating financial crimes. The author argues that lawyers must balance their duty to uphold client confidentiality with the imperative to prevent illicit financial activities. The article calls for the legal community to adopt proactive measures, including enhanced due diligence and compliance protocols, to align with international AML standards. By doing …

Regulating Electronic Legal Support Across State And National Boundaries, Cassandra Burke Robertson

Faculty Publications

Technology and globalization are changing the practice of law and creating new challenges for lawyer regulation. Middle-class litigants who struggle to afford legal services — but are comfortable using online resources — are increasingly seeking and finding legal support online. State and national boundaries dissolve in the online marketplace, making it easy for attorneys to provide services to litigants in other jurisdictions. Differences in national economies make it cost effective for both clients and lawyers to engage in transnational practice, so that attorneys in India and other jurisdictions can offer legal support and advice to American litigants for as little …

Real Metamorphosis Or More Of The Same: Symposium Introduction: Navigating The Practice Of Law In The Wake Of Ethics 20/20 – Globalization, New Technologies, And What It Means To Be A Lawyer In These Uncertain Times, John P. Sahl

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This symposium introduction examines the transformative effects of globalization and technological advancements on the legal profession, contextualized within the American Bar Association's Ethics 20/20 initiative. The author discusses how these forces challenge traditional notions of legal practice, professional responsibility, and ethical standards. By analyzing the intersection of emerging technologies, cross-border legal issues, and evolving client expectations, the article sets the stage for a series of scholarly contributions addressing the future of lawyering in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. The introduction emphasizes the need for the legal profession to adapt proactively to maintain its commitment to justice, competence, and ethical …

Legal Ethics Versus Political Practices: The Application Of The Rules Of Professional Conduct To Lawyer-Politicians, Andrew Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Canadian legal ethics has paid little attention to how the rules of professional conduct for lawyers apply to lawyer-politicians – that is, politicians who happen to be lawyers. This article addresses this issue with reference to what Canadian case law and commentary do exist, supplemented by more plentiful American materials. It proposes a distinction between conduct that is politically expedient and conduct in which lawyer-politicians’ duties as lawyers come into apparent conflict with their duties of office. Canadian case law reveals three conflicting approaches to this latter category: that the duties of a lawyer prevail, that the duties of a …