Legal Profession Commons^™

What's In A Name? A Gen Xer And Gen Yer Explore What It Means To Be Members Of Their Generations In The Workplace, Lauren M. Collins, Elizabeth A. Yates

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In the NextGen Librarian's Survival Guide by Rachel Singer Gordon, the author cites several reasons this time is different than times before in librarianship. Those that are most relevant to law librarianship include:

• Flattening workplace hierarchies and participative management increase the input of newer librarians in workplace decision making

• New technologies require changing skills that affect attitudes toward the integration of those technologies into our daily work

• Outside pressures, such as the prevalence of the Internet, impose a need for librarians to continually prove our relevance and improve relations with younger patrons

• The much talked about …

The Duty To Report Violations Of The Rules Of Professional Conduct: Alternative Views, Lloyd B. Snyder, Harry D. Cornett Jr.

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Thomas Horwitz wrote a thoughtful, provocative article in the November edition of this Journal critizicing Ohio Advisory Opinion 2007-1. That opinion offers the view of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline on several features of Rule 8.3 of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 8.3 requires lawyers to report certain violations of the Rules. Failure to report is itself a violation of the Rules. Horwitz not only criticized the advisory opinion, he also disapproved the procedures followed by the Board in formulating its advisory opinion. The authors of this article disagree with Howitz and offer their views …

Models And Games: The Difference Between Explanation And Understanding For Lawyers And Ethicists , Jeffrey M. Lipshaw

Cleveland State Law Review

There is value for lawyers in thinking about constructs of rules as games on one hand, or models on the other. Games are real in a way models are not. Games have "thingness"--an independent reality-and they can be played. Models have "aboutness"-they map onto something else that is real for the sake of simplification and explanation. But models and games are not dichotomous as the preceding claim makes them out to be. Sometimes models look just like games, and sometimes games can serve as models. Because models look like games, we may come to believe they are real-that the models …

Towards A Reformed Conception Of Multidisciplinary Practice , George C. Nnona

Cleveland State Law Review

Drawing out the deeper questions of pragmatism, professional autonomy, argues, contrary to the dominant academic opinion in the field, that the empirical underpinnings of multidisciplinary practice (MDP) are weak as are its theoretical justifications and overall compatibility with the policy imperatives of true professionalism. The Article is in a sense a response to the observation of the eminent scholar of the legal profession, Professor Charles Wolfram that, "shockingly little has been written in opposition to MDP." The Article critically examines and refutes the arguments deployed in support of MDP, a subject that has attracted much attention in recent times as …

Lawyer Deception To Uncover Wrongdoing, Lloyd B. Snyder

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

A Colorado district attorney used deception to get a man who had murdered three people and was threatening to kill again to surrender himself to the police. Following this, the Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel charged the attorney with violating Rules 8.4(c) and 4.3 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. This article discusses the Rule 8.4(c) charge. Colorado and Ohio have identical provisions in their Codes of Professional Conduct on dishonesty and violations of professional conduct rules.

A Frank & Honest Talk: Aall’S Diversity Symposium Takes On Hard Questions Of Creating And Maintaining Diversity In The Legal Community, Lauren M. Collins

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

"Getting a Rise Out of Diversity: Celebrating the Challenge" took on hard questions of diversity, while keeping the spirit of New Orleans alive through celebration. With speakers who work to maintain diversity in legal practice and education every day, participants engaged in a lively discussion of what diversity actually is and how to create and sustain it.

Law As Symbol: Appearances In The Regulation Of Investment Advisers And Attorneys , Larry D. Barnett

Cleveland State Law Review

From a macrosociological perspective, law is an institution of society, is shaped by conditions in society, and facilitates social life by interalia producing symbols. Law accordingly adopts concepts and principles that focus on the appearance to society of certain phenomena and that are symbols when the phenomena are socially significant. To illustrate symbols in law, the article examines (i) the "hold oneself out" standard in defining an investment adviser under the federal Investment Advisers Act and (ii) the standard for ethical conduct that requires attorneys to avoid appearances of impropriety. If symbolic concepts and principles are tied to the properties …

Truth Or Consequences In Legal Scholarship?, David R. Barnhizer

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

There has been an erosion of the ideal of truth as a guiding force for what we do. This includes a dishonoring of the tradition of the truth-seeking function of scholars. For the university-based intellectual, including legal scholars, the problem with commitments to ends other than truth-seeking is that once we accept a mission distinct from the pursuit of truth and honest discourse, most of the remaining options are suspect - including falseness, hypocrisy, self-deception, subordination of self to a collective, profit, dogmatism, devotion to tradition, and propaganda.

Although what we intend by the idea of truth - legal, scientific, …

Eastern Visions, Western Voices: A Sermon On Love In The Valley Of Law, John W. Teeter Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

This is an appeal to your generation, the generation struggling to make the prolonged and stressful transition from law student to seasoned attorney. This evolution can be painfully despiriting, and I hope that my little sermon will provide ideas on how to transform a potentially grueling struggle for sustenance into a genuine labor of love. My sources stem from divergent roots, both Eastern—Buddhist with pinches of Hindu—and Western— ranging from Platonic to perhaps the moronic. I make no pretense of being an expert in any philosophical school, and I have no desire to indoctrinate others. To the contrary, I aspire …

What Successful Companies Know That Law Firms Need To Know: The Importance Of Employee Motivation And Job Satisfaction To Increased Productivity And Stronger Client Relationships, Theresa M. Neff

Journal of Law and Health

This note examines the importance of employee motivation and job satisfaction to increased productivity and stronger client relationships with law firms. In Part I, I discuss how the pressure of the legal profession can affect lawyers' relationships with their staff members. My analysis will center on recent studies on lawyer job satisfaction, the impact of stress on lawyers, and the public's perception of lawyers. In Part II, I discuss the law firm as a "service" organization and the implications of that orientation. In this section, I also emphasize the importance of building and maintaining relationships with clients and how law …

Bringing Ohio's Legal Ethics Into The 21st Century, Lloyd B. Snyder

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The time has come for Ohio to replace the Code of Professional Responsibility with a set of standards based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The author offers seven reasons for doing so.

Ethics, Loyalty And Harm To Third Parties: A Debate Based On Spaulding V. Zimmerman, Lloyd B. Snyder, Scott Rawlings

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This discussion poses the question: should an attorney ever provide information to an opposing party to prevent that party from suffering great harm if the information will have an adverse effect on the attorney's own client? The case that sets the stage for this discussion is Spaulding v. Zimmerman, 243 Minn. 346 (1962).

Princes Of Darkness And Angels Of Light: The Soul Of The American Lawyer, David R. Barnhizer

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The increasing belief among many lawyers that life is comprised of "fear and greed and money" has altered the legal profession and helped make lawyers into one of the most feared and powerful groups in American society - and one of the most scorned. In the midst of the widespread contempt American society is showing lawyers, this article seeks to explain the special role the legal profession serves in our complex democracy. At the same time it condemns attitudes such as those reflected in Fritts' statement. The belief that life is driven by fear, greed, and money has created a …

What We're Not Telling Law Students - And Lawyers - That They Really Need To Know: Some Thoughts-In-Action Toward Revitalizing The Profession From Its Roots, Lawrence S. Krieger

Journal of Law and Health

Part I of this article sets forth a generally encouraging set of propositions about student and attorney life that I have found to be true. If they are, law students and lawyers need to hear them repeatedly. They collectively represent an approach to life and law which, to the extent it is internalized, can increase life satisfaction, raise standards of professional behavior, and relieve many of the kinds of distress that law students and lawyers are prone to experience. Some students seem to bring much of this information with them to law school years and after, do not lose sight …

The Ethical Utilization Of Paralegals In Ohio, Wendy I. Wills

Cleveland State Law Review

This article seeks to discern a bright-line rule for the unauthorized practice of law in Ohio by paralegals. Part I briefly introduces the growth of the paralegal profession in general. Part II discusses Ohio cases dealing with the unauthorized practice of law. Part III explains what legal services non-lawyers are permitted to perform under the supervision of a practicing attorney. Part IV then discusses the evolution of paralegal practice in other states before Part V summarizes what paralegals are permitted to do under Ohio law.

Reap What You Sow, Gordon J. Beggs

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Unfortunately, with the adoption and revision of formal ethics codes, moral teaching has virtually disappeared from American legal ethics. Law professors, generally, do not consider it their responsibility to teach morality, and our profession today lacks a common moral standard. The Judeo-Christian principles expressed in Proverbs, however, provide a timely challenge to lawyers by advocating values that include justice, purity, mercy, honesty and civility.

Proverbial Practice: Legal Ethics From Old Testament Wisdom, Gordon J. Beggs

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Old Testament book of Proverbs supplied foundational moral values for our nation's legal ethics. With the adoption and revision of formal codes, moral teaching has virtually disappeared from legal ethics. This essay suggests that the wisdom of Proverbs offers a timely challenge to the character of the legal profession by advocating values which include justice, purity, mercy, humility, honesty, candor, truthful testimony, and civility.

Book Review: The Right To Justice: The Political Economy Of Legal Services In The United States, Jane M. Picker

Cleveland State Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Right To Justice: The Political Economy Of Legal Services In The United States, Jane M. Picker

Cleveland State Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Defining Academic Scholarship, Stephen J. Werber

Cleveland State Law Review

This article seeks to find a definition of “scholarship.” Scholarship, to be fully recognized in the academic community, must address the theory of law - not its application. The basic premise of this essay is that such a definition of scholarship is detrimental to the law teaching profession and demeaning of the legal profession as a whole. As in the sciences, there is a need for both theoretical scholarship and applied scholarship. Both should be recognized as contributing to the overall knowledge, development, and beauty of the law as well as to the justice that that law seeks to achieve.

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 …

Legal Malpractice In Ohio, John C. Nemeth

Cleveland State Law Review

This article will discuss the fundamentals of a legal malpractice case, specifically addressing two areas. The first involves the elements of a legal malpractice case. This discussion will expose two problems that continually appear in legal malpractice litigation: (1) expanding the liability of an attorney to third parties, and (2) determining whether the alleged malpractice was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. The second area of discussion will focus on the time limitations imposed for bringing a legal malpractice action. Additionally, in order to better understand the current state of the law, a brief discussion illustrating the historical development …

The Pro Bono Debate And Suggestions For A Workable Program, Sophia M. Deseran

Cleveland State Law Review

Although the concept of pro bono publico, the rendering of an attorney's services without or with substantially reduced compensation, has been in existence for centuries, there has been an increasing interest in the question of whether this public service can be made a mandatory one. This note will explore the development of a mandatory service requirement by reviewing the American treatment of such an obligation. Some attention will be given to foreign approaches as well. In addition, the need for legal assistance will be analyzed. Finally, in view of the uncertain status of a mandatory pro bono system, suggestions for …

Finding Yourself In Law School, Joel Jay Finer

Cleveland State Law Review

Congratulations on your acceptance and your decision to enter law school. Some might say after reading this commentary that it was more appropriate for a commencement address. But stop to think. Commencement means beginning. This is your commencement, the beginning of your legal career. And if the values to which I refer are not somewhere in your thoughts during your law school education, when you can begin to see how your technical skills can be put to use in service of whatever justice goals you personally find most meaningful, it may be more difficult to make the connections later on. …

A Conceptual Approach To Negotiating Relational Contracts For The Small Business Client, Gary H. Doberstyn

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this Article is to present a conceptual framework within which one may develop a comprehensive approach to negotiating relational business agreements. The framework identifies and integrates various considerations in a very broad manner to make it applicable to the various business contexts in which negotiations may occur.

Prosecutorial Misconduct: Quelling The Tide Of Improper Comment To The Jury, Frank D. Celebrezze

Cleveland State Law Review

The United States Supreme Court, in Darden v. Wainwright, stated that where the error is forensic in nature, appellate courts should reverse a conviction when the prosecutor's misconduct "so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process." Therefore, except in the most egregious cases, appellate courts are placed in the uncomfortable position of condemning the prosecutor's behavior while affirming the conviction, thus fostering what an appellate judge once called "a deplorably cynical attitude towards the judiciary. This article will focus on one aspect of prosecutorial misconduct which has been chronicled with alarming …

Ethics And The Settlement Of Civil Rights Cases: Can Attorneys Keep Their Virtue And Their Fees?, Lloyd B. Snyder

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Civil Rights Attorneys' Fees Award Act of 1976 authorizes an award of fees to the prevailing party in a civil rights action. The United State Supreme Court, in Evans v. Jeff D., has interpreted the Fees Act to authorize the parties in a civil rights action to negotiate settlement of fees and merits jointly. The Court did not determine whether joint fees-merits negotiation is ethical. The author of this article contends that joint negotiation is ethical. He further contends that it is ethical for plaintiff's attorney to reject an offer of settlement if the offer is coupled with a …

Wrongful Death Actions And Section 1983, Steven H. Steinglass

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article examines the use of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 in cases in which violations of federal law by state or local officials result in a death and the rules that govern the existence of the cause of action and the available damages. State remedies for the protection of individual rights from official misconduct are often inadequate, and public protection is frequently unavailing. Thus, many plaintiffs seek alternative remedies, and in recent years the estates, personal representatives and survivors of victims of wrongful killings have increasingly turned to federal law and federal courts. Section 1983, however, is a threadbare statute, …

Defending The Guilty, Barbara Allen Babcock

Cleveland State Law Review

How can you defend a person you know is guilty? I have answered that question hundreds of times, never to my inquirer's satisfaction, and therefore never to my own. In recent years, I have more or less given up, abandoning the high-flown explanations of my youth, and resorting to a rather peevish: "Well, it's not for everybody. Criminal defense work takes a peculiar mind-set, heart-set, soul-set." While I still believe this, the mind-set might at least be more accessible through a better effort at explanation. First we will examine the nature of the question, then the possible answers. We must …

The Civil Rights Lawyer In The 1980'S, Thelton E. Henderson

Cleveland State Law Review

There has been a lot of discussion recently about civil rights and the future, if any, of the civil rights movement. Some ask whether the civil rights movement in this country is dead. In response, I hope to answer this question by examining the civil rights movement along with the role of the civil rights lawyer in the 1980's.