Legal Profession Commons^™

Parts And Wholes: The Integrity Of The Model Rules, Charles W. Wolfram

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

As important as is each of its parts, the 1983 Model Rules of Professional Conduct was, of course, meant to function as a whole. At the very least, the parts were presumably intended to work well with one another, sketching a regulatory apparatus that would guide both lawyers subject to it and courts and regulators administering it in a coherent and consistent manner. To a large extent the Model Rules made significant headway in this respect, continuing the movement toward more explicit and articulated regulation of the profession begun by their predecessor, the Model Code of Professional Responsibility.

Yet, …

In Pursuit Of The Counter-Text: The Turn To The Jewish Legal Model In Contemporary American Legal Theory, Suzanne Last Stone

Articles

Beginning with Professor Robert Cover's Nomos and Narrative, contemporary American legal scholars have increasingly turned, implicitly or more directly, to the Jewish legal tradition as an example of a legal system in which law is defined not by reference to the authority and power of the State, but rather by the commitment of a legal community to voluntarily-accepted legal obligations. These scholars depict the Jewish legal system as having successfully confronted - and resolved - several central dilemmas currently facing American law by maintaining a coherent legal system while accepting behavioral and interpretive pluralism. In this Article, Professor Stone shows …

A Note To Our Readers, The Editors

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Comment On The Canadian Bar Association's Gender Equality Task Force Report, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

The Task Force Report is a comprehensive one that deserves to be read by all members of the profession. It documents widespread problems and suggests wide ranging solutions. Reading a review is not an adequate substitute. A review can only touch on highlights, whereas it is in the detail of the Report that its real impact lies. This review will briefly comment on each of the themes announced in the title of the Report: equality, diversity, and accountability. Although in my assessment the report is in some respects too timid, that should not take away from the fact the Report …

Themes Of Injustice: Wrongful Convictions, Racial Prejudice, And Lawyer Incompetence, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The U. S. criminal justice system has undergone radical changes in the past generation. Crime is more complex; prosecutors are more powerful; and courts, corrections agencies, and defense services are burdened with larger case loads and tighter budgets. It is not the best of times to talk about justice. Yet, it is a subject that needs to be constantly addressed, particularly in times of crisis. The following essay focuses on some of the problems that present themselves in the criminal justice system today, including the conviction of innocent defendants, especially in capital cases; racial prejudice; and lawyer incompetence.

The Role Of A Chief Justice In Canada, Peter W. Hogg

Articles & Book Chapters

Professor Hogg describes the duties of Chief Justices in Canadian courts, and explains that the effective discharge of their many administrative functions plays a significant role in maintaining the independence of the judiciary.

The Scholar As Advocate, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Articles

Academic freedom in this country has been so closely identified with faculty autonomy that the two terms are often used interchangeably, especially by faculty members who are resisting restraints on their freedom to do as they please. While there may be some dispute as to whether or how far academic freedom protects the autonomy of universities or of students, the autonomy of faculty members seems to lie close to the core of the traditional American conception of academic freedom. As elaborated by the American Association of University Professors, this conception of academic freedom calls for protecting individual faculty members from …

Utility, Rights And Relativity: A Preliminary Look At Lawyers In Hard Cases, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The following article was written several years ago; its objective (as the opening paragraphs suggest) was to set forth, in as simple a form as possible, the basic philosophical as well as ethical dilemmas and issues confronting lawyers. The audience initially targeted comprised practitioners. The manuscript has, however, stayed on the shelf, gathering dust. I can think of no clear reason for this. Perhaps it was because of the preachiness inherent within the purpose. Perhaps it was because it did not really add anything remarkably new to the literature on the subject - a great stumbling block to writers, despite …

Government Civil Investigations And The Ethical Ban On Communicating With Represented Parties, Ernest F. Lidge Iii

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Moral Labyrinth Of Zealous Advocacy, James R. Elkins

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Advance Fee Attorney Retainer Agreements In Bankruptcy: Another Special Law For Lawyers?, Lester Brickman, Jonathan Klein

Articles

From the time that the first lawyers set foot in what is now the United States, society has engaged in efforts to regulate lawyers' fees, including fees received from clients in bankruptcy proceedings. Lawyers, in turn, have been engaged in continuing efforts to: secure their self-interests, aggrandize their role in society, be free of societally imposed constraints on their fees and activities, and carve out an ever larger area of exclusive domain. Although lawyers have not fared as well in their recent efforts to extend the scope of their monopoly by the use of statutes that prohibit the unauthorized practice …

The Law Between The Bar And The State, Susan P. Koniak

Faculty Scholarship

The traditional understanding of the relation between law and professional legal ethics is that legal ethics covers matters not covered by law; that ethics sits passively above law, starting where law leaves off. In this Article, Professor Susan Koniak argues that this understanding is wrong. She asserts that professional ethics are in competition and conflict with law as it is embodied in the pronouncements of courts and legislatures. Although "law" is usually considered to be the near exclusive preserve of the state, the Article contends that private groups also have "law," but it is usually called "ethics." The legal profession's …

Attorneys' Malpractice Policies: Regulatory Exclusions And Public Policy, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

The courts have yet to decide the issue of the enforceability of provisions in legal malpractice insurance policies that specifically exclude from coverage claims made by government regulators such as the FDIC. The question has reached the courts with respect to such exclusionary provisions in directors' and officers' liability insurance policies, and here the courts are split. The author discusses the current case law and the statutory developments.

The Cocaine Addicted Lawyer And The Disciplinary System, Raymond P. O'Keefe

St. Thomas Law Review

This article will discuss cocaine addiction within the legal profession and its impact upon individual attorneys, clients, and the profession as a whole. It discusses different approaches that have been taken in Bar disciplinary proceedings and the need for professional sanctioning bodies to accept cocaine addiction as a disease, and recovery from it as a mitigating factor. It argues that admitting evidence of addiction and recovery as mitigation best serves the goals of the disciplinary proceeding, which are to 1) protect the public, 2) maintain the integrity of the legal profession,. and 3) preserve public confidence in the legal profession. …

The Conflict Between Illinois Rule 1.6(B) And The Aids Confidentiality Act, 25 J. Marshall L. Rev. 727 (1992), Scott H. Isaacman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discretion And Rules: A Lawyer's View, Carl E. Scheider

Book Chapters

In modern society the law regulates the complex behavior of millions of people. To do this efficiently-to do this at all-broadly applicable rules must be used. Yet such rules are bound to be incomplete, to be ambiguous, to fail in some cases, to be unfair in others. Some of the drawbacks of rules can be minimized by giving discretion to the administrators and judges who apply them. Yet doing so dilutes the advantages of rules and creates the risk that discretion may be abused. Working out the proper balance of these considerations is both necessary and perplexing in every area …

Law And Conformity, Ethics And Conflict: The Trouble With Law-Based Conceptions Of Ethics, Steven R. Salbu

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Stances, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Part-Time Prosecutors And Conflicts Of Interest: A Survey And Some Proposals, Richard H. Underwood

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Colorado Rules Of Professional Conduct: Implications For Criminal Lawyers, H. Patrick Furman, Daniel A. Vigil

Publications

No abstract provided.

Unlocking The Chamber Doors: Limiting Confidentiality In Proceedings Before The Virginia Judicial Inquiry And Review Commission, Brian R. Pitney

University of Richmond Law Review

In a Mississippi case, a judge imposed and collected criminal fines, then willfully and fraudulently documented the case as dismissed, keeping the money for himself. In California, the Commission of Judicial Qualifications removed a judge for prodding an attorney with a "dildo," grabbing a court commissioner by his testicles in a public hallway, and habitually making offensive sexual remarks at his office. A Massachusetts judge received public censure for making derogatory and obscene references to members of the bench and bar, becoming intoxicated and urinating in public, and setting unusually high bail for African-American defendants. After a Federal Bureau of …

Personal Values And Professional Ethics, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

My purpose on this occasion is to urge reexamination of personal values as a fundamental resource of professional ethics. The essential point is that rules of ethics, such as those embodied in the profession's ethical codes, are insufficient guides to making the choices of action that a professional must make in practice. I will suggest that the same is true of professional tradition and conventional ways of practice. This is not to say that rules of ethics and traditions are irrelevant. Rules of professional ethics frame the ethical problems that are encountered in a lawyer's life throughout practice. Moreover, professional …

The U.S. Law Of Client Confidentiality: Framework For An International Perspective, Charles W. Wolfram

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

State Ethics Rules And Federal Prosecutors: The Controversies Over The Anti-Contact And Subpoena Rules, Roger C. Cramton, Lisa K. Udell

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Jewish Lawyering In A Multicultural Society: A Midrash On Levinson Colloquy, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

When we acknowledge the contradiction between the project's goal and the reality of group influence, we are led to consider the alternative strategy of creating community. Such a strategy would invite lawyers to begin a community dialogue regarding how each of our group identities, and the responses of others to our identities, interfere with our efforts to realize the goal of equal justice. While significant to the understanding of group dynamics, consideration of Jewish lawyering probably has limited value as a predictor of an individual lawyer's professional conduct. The actual and potential influence of Jewishness on lawyering is quite diverse, …

Rediscovering The Republican Origins Of The Legal Ethics Codes, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

Many commentators wrongly assume that the hired gun ideal is the foundation of our legal ethics codes. This article explains that this assumption is based on an historical mistake that has consequences for interpreting the modern codes. Judge George Sharswood, the nineteenth century scholar whose work provided the basis for the 1908 A.B.A. Canons of Ethics, had a republican conception that rejected the adversarial ethic in favor of a more nuanced conception that combined loyalty to clients with a thick obligation to the public good that both bounded client representation and required lawyers to provide political leadership. Although the emphasis …

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.

Alter[Ing] People's Perceptions: The Challenge Facing Advocates Of Ancillary Business Practices, Marjorie Meeks

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Fall And Rise Of The Criminal Contingent Fee, Peter Lushing

Articles

The article argues that the ban on contingent fees for criminal defense attorneys, established by the American Bar Association in 1969, is outdated and should be repealed. It contends that the ban is rooted in historical prejudice and unfounded concerns about conflicts of interest, rather than empirical evidence. The author suggests that the Supreme Court's 1989 decision implicitly approving contingent fees in certain criminal cases presents an opportunity to reconsider this prohibition. Repealing the ban could benefit middle-class defendants and allow for regulation and data collection to address potential issues.

Mandatory Pro Bono, Roger C. Cramton

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Should lawyers be required to devote a portion of their time or money to public service activities? This issue, commonly referred to as "mandatory pro bono," is much discussed these days. The purpose of this article is to illuminate the policychoices before the profession by surveying the arguments for and against mandatory pro bono.