Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Accommodation Clients, Douglas R. Richmond

Akron Law Review

Accommodation clients typically are the creation of lawyers facing possible disqualification in litigation, although professional discipline and malpractice liability may also be concerns. They are also the creation of courts who believe that slavish adherence to conflict of interest rules sometimes produces unfair results in disqualification disputes. Ethics rules do not distinguish between “primary” clients and accommodation clients. Clients are clients. Or are they?

Should Attorneys Have A Duty To Report Financial Abuse Of The Elderly?, Carolyn L. Dessin

Akron Law Review

This Article will therefore put the efficacy issue aside and focus on whether an attorney can and should report suspected abuse under a mandatory reporting statute. Part Two of this article will examine the various states’ approaches to mandatory reporting of abuse. Part Three will explore the various states’ rules governing attorney conduct. Part Four will analyze the interaction of the mandatory reporting provisions with the rules governing attorney conduct. Finally, Part Five will discuss whether requiring attorneys to report suspected elder abuse is desirable.

Inside, Outside: Cross-Border Enforcement Of Attorney Advertising Restrictions, Margaret Raymond

Akron Law Review

The question that motivated this paper was three-fold: whether states can regulate this type of cross-border advertising, whether they do, and whether they should...If a state wants to regulate advertising, it wants to regulate all advertising that the state‘s consumers will see, regardless of where it originated or where the lawyers who engaged in it are admitted to practice. Enforcement accordingly advances the interests that are assertedly served by attorney advertising restrictions. A failure to enforce restrictive rules against out-of-state lawyers, by contrast, has a somewhat counterintuitive result.

Email, Metadata, And Clouds, Oh My! Recent Changes To The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct, Joyce Manna Janto

Law Faculty Publications

A discussion of how the 2012 revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct affect the attorney's duties in handling email: encryption, storage, metadata, and confidentiality.

Technology And Client Communications: Preparing Law Students And New Lawyers To Make Choices That Comply With The Ethical Duties Of Confidentiality, Competence, And Communication, Kristin J. Hazelwood

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

That the use of technology has radically changed the legal profession is beyond dispute. Through technology, lawyers can now represent clients in faraway states and countries, and they can represent even local clients through a “virtual law office.” Gone are the times in which the lawyer’s choices for communicating with clients primarily involve preparing formal business letters to convey advice, holding in-person client meetings in the office, or conducting telephone calls with clients on landlines from the confines of the lawyer’s office. Not only do lawyers have choices about how to communicate with their clients, but they also frequently choose …

Online Legal Advice: Ethics In The Digital Age, Paige A. Thomas

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The rise of the Internet changed the way initial interactions between lawyers and prospective clients happen. Unfortunately, a host of problems concerning privacy rights and consumer usage have emerged. In this digital age, where immediacy and response time are driving factors in an attorney’s online presence, the approach to establish an attorney-client relationship is far more informal. Due to the quick rise of the Internet and social media, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct do not offer a clear answer for attorneys using social media. An inherent danger lies in off-the-cuff remarks, made on the Internet—a platform generally associated with …

Friends Of Justice: Does Social Media Impact The Public Perception Of The Justice System?, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

Lawyers have long been recognized as being necessary in the effective functioning of an ordered society in roles as both officers of the court and, more broadly, as officers of the system of justice. In 2014, the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education report noted that "[s]ociety has a deep interest in the competence of lawyers, in their availability to serve society and clients, in the broad public role they can play, and in their professional values." Values such as those noted in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (advisor, counselor, and advocate) are instrumental in the …

What Gets Judges In Trouble, Richard H. Underwood

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Keep Your “Friends” Close And Your Enemies Closer: Walking The Ethical Tightrope In The Use Of Social Media., John G. Browning

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article will examine the ethical issues posed by lawyers’ use of social media platforms in light of the ABA Ethics Commission 20/20 changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Social networking has had a transformative effect both on the way society shares information and on the legal profession. Much of the discussion to date focuses on the discovery and use of evidence from social media sites in criminal cases and civil litigation, but attention must also be directed to the ethical quandaries posed by the legal profession’s use of social media. This Article will consider issues such as …

Arbitration Clauses In Fee Retainer Agreements., Chrissy L. Schwennsen

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Due to the variety of approaches jurisdictions employ when determining the legal ramifications of arbitration clauses in fee retainer agreements, it’s best to include an explanation of the legal consequences of arbitration in the agreements. The attorney can, and should, fully explain the potential benefits of arbitration to clients. State courts take various viewpoints on the issue, and most stand contrary to the position of the American Bar Association (ABA) and state ethics committees on the subject. Consequently, attorneys must disclose truthful and accurate information regarding arbitration agreements when engaged in multijurisdictional practice in order to ensure protection from malpractice …

Lawyering For Groups: The Case Of American Indian Tribal Attorneys, Kristen A. Carpenter, Eli Wald

Publications

Lawyering for groups, broadly defined as the legal representation of a client who is not an individual, is a significant and booming phenomenon. Encompassing the representation of governments, corporations, institutions, peoples, classes, communities, and causes, lawyering for groups is what many, if not most, lawyers do. And yet, the dominant theory of law practice--the Standard Conception, with its principles of zealous advocacy, nonaccountability, and professional role-based morality--and the rules of professional conduct that codify it, continue to be premised on the basic antiquated assumption that the paradigmatic client-attorney relationship is between an individual client and an individual attorney. The result …

Friending And Following: Applying The Rules Of Professional Conduct To Social Media, Andy Taylor

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Despite the strong tradition in the law of not advertising for legal services, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as well as the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct recognize that the interest in expanding public information about legal services trump that tradition. However, that is not the case in many states where, in some cases, lawyers have been advised to avoid certain types of interactive websites or risk what has been dubbed a "one-click ethics violation."

This article seeks to explain how attorneys can use social networking sites without violating any rules of professional conduct. Additionally, the article proposes a …

Providing Capital For Law Firms In A Credit Crisis: Non-Lawyer Equity Ownership, Brett Novick

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

Last year, a New York federal district court dismissed a lawsuit by Jacoby & Meyers LLP attacking a New York law that prevents non-lawyers from owning an equity interest in law firms. On November 21, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit resuscitated the lawsuit, remanding the case to the district court and granting Jacoby & Meyers LLP leave to amend its complaint. Non-lawyers owning an equity interest in law firms is not a new idea, as countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom already allow it, and the United States should follow their example to …

Cooperation-What Is It And Why Do It?, David J. Waxse

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Litigation is a method of resolving disputes that is too costly and time consuming for most parties involved. As a Federal Magistrate Judge involved in case management on a day-to-day basis, I often see evidence of this. I also participated in the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation held at Duke Law School and sponsored by the Federal Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. The conference explored “the current costs of civil litigation in Federal Court, particularly discovery, and discuss[ed] possible solutions.” As part of the conference, the Federal Judicial Center presented4its research findings on its study …

Taking Limited Representation To The Limits: The Efficacy Of Using Unbundled Legal Services In Domestic-Relations Matters Involving Litigation., Michele N. Struffolino

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The use of unbundled legal services is nothing new in this country, and it is often preferable to no representation at all. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct expressly permit attorneys to provide limited representation to their clients. Domestic-relations attorneys, in particular, have tried to ease the burden on litigants by offering unbundled legal services. However, the use of unbundled services in domestic[1]relations matters has caused difficulties for litigants, attorneys, and the courts. For these domestic-relations cases in particular, full service representation is crucial. To provide full satisfaction for their clients and to fulfill their ethical duty, domestic-relations attorneys must …

Conflicts Of Interest: Slicing The Hot Potato Doctrine, John Leubsdorf

San Diego Law Review

This essay, which boasts of being the first law review article devoted to what professional responsibility insiders call the “hot potato doctrine,” will discuss some of the unanswered questions about the doctrine’s core principle: a firm may not turn a present client into a former client by “firing” the client in order to get the benefit of the more lenient conflict of interest rules that apply to former clients. Exactly how does this modify the rules laid down by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct governing conflicts of interest and withdrawal from representations? What is the justification for refusing to …

The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct Through The Lens Of The Proverbs, Scott E. Thompson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Misunderstanding Lawyers' Ethics, Monroe H. Freedman, Abbe Smith

Michigan Law Review

The title of Daniel Markovits's book, A Modern Legal Ethics, gives the impression that it is a comprehensive treatise on contemporary lawyers' ethics. The contents of the book, however, are both more limited and more expansive than the title suggests. Markovits's treatment of lawyers' ethics concerns itself with what he conceives to be the pervasive guilty conscience of practicing lawyers over their "professional viciousness" (p. 36), and how lawyers can achieve a guilt-free professional identity "worthy of ... commitment" (p. 2). Markovits's goal in the book is to "articulat[e] a powerful and distinctively lawyerly virtue" (p. 2), one that …

Three Models Of Legal Ethics, Anthony D'Amato, Edward J. Eberle

Faculty Working Papers

This article presents a picture of each of the three theoretical models—autonomy, socialist, and deontological—and indicates how they differ from one another in their application to some aspects of attorney-client confidentiality, one of the most hotly debated topics of professional ethics.

Through Gritted Teeth And Clenched Jaw: Court-Initiated Sanctions Opinions In Bankruptcy Courts., Nancy B. Rapoport

St. Mary's Law Journal

Bankruptcy courts see too many incompetent bankruptcy lawyers, and the courts have few options for dealing with them. A court can rule against the lawyer, but this strategy punishes the lawyer’s client, who may be an innocent bystander. Alternatively, nothing prohibits a judge from deciding to hand down a sanctions opinion. Sanctions opinions arise when one party makes a request, or the court believes a lawyer’s behavior is serious enough to merit a written order. These instances include flouting the law—either bankruptcy law or the ethical rules—or being unaware of the fundamentals of bankruptcy practice and policy. In the instance …

Neither Reasonable Nor Remedial: The Hopeless Contradictions Of The Legal Ethics Measures To Prevent Perjury , Susan E. Thrower

Cleveland State Law Review

Analyzing the inherent conflict posed by the use of an undefined mandate-“reasonable remedial measures”-leads to analysis of the even deeper, unresolvable conflicts in the primary steps prescribed by commentary: the client's narration of his own story, the lawyer's withdrawal from representation, and the lawyer's disclosure of the client's false evidence. Not all of the reasonable remedial measures protect both the client's confidentiality and the court's insistence on honesty, and none of them protects the lawyer from charges of impropriety. In the face of the utter failure of the Model Rules to accomplish their conflicting goals, the ABA's rules drafters should …

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 …

The Disabled Lawyers Have Arrived; Have They Been Welcomed With Open Arms Into The Profession? An Empirical Study Of The Disabled Lawyer, Donald H. Stone

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article proceeds in seven parts. Part I briefly outlines the ADA's position on reasonable accommodations. Part II addresses how law firms are reacting and responding to the fact that they employ lawyers with mood disorders, such as depression or bipolar disorder, attorneys with learning disabilities, and individuals with alcohol or drug addiction. What disabilities are most often represented? Are lawyers with disabilities apt to receive work modifications to accommodate their disability? Are attorneys with mental illness provided with less stressful case assignments? Are lawyers with substance use disorders and alcohol or drug addiction assigned co-counsel to monitor or offer …

American Legal Ethics In An Age Of Anxiety., Michael Ariens

St. Mary's Law Journal

The thesis of my article, “American Legal Ethics in an Age of Anxiety,” is that the historical development of American legal ethics was regularly accompanied by an anxiety within the profession. In general, I suggest the legal profession’s understanding of its ethical precepts has been molded and reshaped during periods of professional anxiety. The profession’s understanding of legal ethics changed dramatically during various crises in the 19th century, exemplified by the different approaches taken by David Hoffman in the mid-1830s, George Sharswood in the mid-1850s, and David Dudley Field in the early 1870s. In each case, however, the triggering event …

American Legal Ethics In An Age Of Anxiety, Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

The thesis of my article, “American Legal Ethics in an Age of Anxiety,” is that the historical development of American legal ethics was regularly accompanied by an anxiety within the profession. In general, I suggest the legal profession’s understanding of its ethical precepts has been molded and reshaped during periods of professional anxiety. The profession’s understanding of legal ethics changed dramatically during various crises in the 19th century, exemplified by the different approaches taken by David Hoffman in the mid-1830s, George Sharswood in the mid-1850s, and David Dudley Field in the early 1870s. In each case, however, the triggering event …

The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct And Serving The Non-Legal Needs Of Clients: Professional Regulation In A Time Of Change, Robert Rubinson

All Faculty Scholarship

The practice of law is changing. Lawyers who act solely as advocates and zealous representatives of clients in legal matters still represent the core of what lawyers do and of how many lawyers see their work, but other trends are filtering into "on the ground" practice. Increasing numbers of lawyers are mediating, consulting on traditionally non-legal issues, and approaching clients' needs "holistically" by associating with and integrating other professional services. These trends cut across virtually all segments of the profession, from prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers, to lawyers whose practices involve, among other things, public interest work, personal injury, family …

Ethical Considerations Concerning Contacts By Counsel Or Investigators With Present And Former Employees Of An Opposing Party The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility., James L. Burt, Jeremy J. Cook

St. Mary's Law Journal

Present and former employees of an opposing party are often the best source of information concerning that party’s activities. Contact with these employees or their representatives may be considered ethical or unethical depending on the circumstances. Unfortunately, the rules governing such contacts are neither clear nor consistent. The first issue lawyers must resolve is whether the present and former employees are considered “represented” under Rule 4.2 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. If they are “unrepresented” for purposes of Rule 4.2, the issue then becomes whether Rule 4.3 applies. Of grave importance are the potential sanctions, which include the …

Enforceability Of General Advance Waivers Of Conflicts Of Interest The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility., Nathan M. Crystal

St. Mary's Law Journal

Conflicts of interest among clients present some of the most pervasive ethical problems lawyers face. In many instances the affected clients may consent to a conflict. Under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, for consent to be effective, it must be “informed” and must be “confirmed in writing.” Informed consent to such conflict is often referred to as a “waiver” of the conflict. Many law firms have begun seeking “general advance waivers” of conflicts of interest. The ethical rules did not deal with the issue of advance waiver until 2002. Both Model Rules and the Restatement of the Law …

On Terrorism And Whistleblowing, Michael P. Scharf, Colin T. Mclaughlin

Faculty Publications

At a Bio-Terrorism Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on March 31, 2006, the government participants were asked what they would do if a superior instructed them not to disclose information to the public about the likely grave health affects of an ongoing bio-terrorist attack. In response, they indicated that they would be reluctant to become a "whistleblower." This is not surprising since, despite the federal and state laws that purport to facilitate such whistleblowing for the public good, government whistleblowers routinely have faced loss of promotion, harassment, firing, and in some instances criminal prosecution when they …

Why Legal Ethics Rules Are Relevant To Lawyer Liability The Sixth Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice And Professional Responsibility., Douglas R. Richmond

St. Mary's Law Journal

The last two decades have witnessed the creation of a perilous liability environment for lawyers and law firms. Most discussions of lawyer liability begin with “legal malpractice,” a term which typically describes professional negligence. In a malpractice case, the plaintiff must prove the lawyer owed them a duty, the duty was breached, and the breach was the proximate cause of actual damages. The lawyer’s duty flows from the attorney-client relationship. But, the attorney-client relationship is also a fiduciary one, and lawyers may be sued for breach of the fiduciary duty. While these two causes of action are usually alleged simultaneously, …