Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Just And Speedy: On Civil Discovery Sanctions For Luddite Lawyers, Michael Murphy

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

"G" Is More Than "Pc" For Georgia: Why Prospective Adoption Of Aba Model Rule 8.4(G) Is A Viable Measure To Combat Discrimination And Harassment, Katie M. Wroten

Georgia Law Review

In August 2016, the American Bar Association
passed Model Rule 8.4(g) into its Model Rules of
Professional Conduct. The rule declares it misconduct
for a lawyer to harass or discriminate based on race,
sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age,
sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or
socioeconomic status. The scope of the rule extends to
lawyers' conduct outside of the courtroom, including
conduct related to the practice of law. The rule aims to
eliminate bias in the profession and justice system.
The Supreme Court of Georgia has yet to adopt any
version of Model Rule 8.4(g) in its comment …

'What Do I Do With The Porn On My Computer?': How A Lawyer Should Counsel Clients About Physical Evidence, Peter A. Joy, Rodney J. Uphoff

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article critically analyzes the legal and ethical limits of advice a lawyer may give clients about evidence of crimes, and provides examples of that advice in a number of situations involving clients with questions about what they should do with real and electronic evidence. When criminal charges have not been brought and are not expected, how much latitude does a lawyer have in giving advice to a client? When may a lawyer counsel a client to destroy contraband or other evidence of a crime? When a lawyer may not counsel destruction, is a lawyer legally and ethically permitted to …

Triumphs Of Commission, Eric L. Talley

Faculty Scholarship

Willis L.M. Reese Prize commencement address to the Columbia Law School class of 2017.

Attorney-Client Confidentiality: A Critical Analysis, William H. Simon

Faculty Scholarship

Attorney-client confidentiality doctrine is distinguished by its expansiveness and its rigid or categorical form. This brief essay argues that the rationales for these features are unpersuasive. It compares the “strong confidentiality” of current doctrine to a hypothetical narrower and more flexible “moderate confidentiality” and concludes that moderate confidentiality is more plausible. It is unlikely that current doctrine yields benefits that justify its costs.

Addressing Cultural Bias In The Legal Profession, Debra Chopp

Articles

Over the past two decades, there has been an outpouring of scholarship that explores the problem of implicit bias. Through this work, commentators have taken pains to define the phenomenon and to describe the ways in which it contributes to misunderstanding, discrimination, inequality, and more. This article addresses the role of implicit cultural bias in the delivery of legal services. Lawyers routinely represent clients with backgrounds and experiences that are vastly different from their own, and the fact of these differences can impede understanding, communication, and, ultimately, effective representation. While other professions, such as medicine and social work, have adopted …

Patenting Frankenstein's Monster: Exploring The Patentability Of Artificial Organ Systems And Methodologies, Jordana Goodman

Faculty Scholarship

The conception of Frankenstein’s monster bridges the ever-narrowing divide between man and machine. Long before Congress codified Section 33(a) of the America Invents Act (“AIA”), Mary Shelley’s vague description of the monster’s creation has left people wondering: what defines a human organism? Through an analysis of patent law and scientific progress in the development of artificial organ systems, this paper explores the boundaries of patentable subject matter in the United States and attempts to clarify Congress’s determination that “no patent may issue on a claim directed to or encompassing a human organism.” Though patent law should incentivize development of artificial …

A New Remedy For Junk Science: Article 11.073 And Texas's Response To The Changing Landscape In The Forensic Sciences., Trevor Rosson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

No Appropriation Without Compensation: How Per Se Takings Of Personal Property Check The Power To Regulate Commerce., William Sumner Macdaniel

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Pipe(Line) Dreams Post-Denbury Green., Nicholas Laurent, Christopher Oddo

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC v. Texas Rice Land Partners, the Beaumont Court of Appeals articulated the test that should be applied when considering whether the condemnation of private property, which would result favorably for pipeline companies, should be allowed. In Denbury, the Beaumont Court of Appeals balanced the protection of private property rights against the need for true common carrier pipeline companies to condemn private property. The court held that in order to condemn private property, a substantial public interest must exist to justify such condemnation. The Texas Supreme Court, however, reversed the decision of the Beaumont Court of …

Tx Rice V. Denbury., Thomas Alan Zabel

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Contributions Of Louis Brandeis To The Law Of Lawyering, John S. Dzienkowski

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

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 …

Attorney's Withholding Of Tangible Evidence Of Crime Held Not Protected By Attorney-Client Privilege

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Compensation Of Out-Of-State Attorney

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Dishonest Ethical Advocacy?: False Defenses In Criminal Court, Joshua A. Liebman

Fordham Law Review

This Note examines this dilemma and recent judicial approaches to it. Judges disagree about how guilty criminal defendants should be permitted to mount defenses at trial. Some have forbidden defense counsel from knowingly advancing any false exculpatory proposition. Others have permitted guilty defense attorneys to present sincere or truthful testimony in order to bolster a falsehood. And still others have signaled more general comfort with the idea that an attorney aggressively can pursue an acquittal on behalf of a guilty client. This Note seeks to resolve this issue by parsing the range of false defense tactics available to attorneys and …

Legal Ethics, Patrick Emery Longan

Mercer Law Review

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.1 The Article discusses attorney discipline, ineffective assistance of counsel, legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, judicial ethics, several miscellaneous cases involving legal ethics, opinions of the Formal Advisory Opinion Board, and amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

See No Fiduciary, Hear No Fiduciary: A Lawyer’S Knowledge Within Aiding And Abetting Fiduciary Breach Claims, Brinkley Rowe

Fordham Law Review

Fiduciary liability for attorney conduct generally extends only to direct clients of legal services. Over the last few decades, however, the lawyer’s role has expanded. Following this trend, fiduciary liability also has expanded to allow third-party claims in certain limited circumstances. One example is the attorney aiding and abetting a client’s fiduciary breach claim. One of the key requirements for liability under this claim is the attorney’s knowledge of his client’s fiduciary relationship with the third party alleging the breach. Within those jurisdictions that have accepted the claim, there are two approaches to the knowledge element. The first is the …

Responding To Judicial And Lawyer Misconduct: Analyzing A Survey Of State Trial Court Judges, Peter M. Koelling

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

While reported cases or incidents may give us insight into the interpretation of Rule 2.15 of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, they do not give us a sense of how often judges undertake the obligation to act under the rule. The Judicial Division of the American Bar Association developed a survey to explore the interpretation and the implementation of Rule 2.15 of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, and to determine how and in what manner state trial court judges responded to ethical violations by lawyers and other judges. The survey looked back over a ten-year period and was …

A Legal And Ethical Puzzle: Defense Counsel As Quasi Witness, Elizabeth Slater

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. criminal justice system is built on the concept of an adversarial trial. The defense and prosecution present competing narratives to a neutral audience that judges whether the prosecution has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. In this context, defense counsel is expected to be a zealous advocate for the defendant, providing the most effective representation possible in light of the evidence presented by the government. However, there are occasions outside of trial where defense counsel’s traditional role changes and she is asked to disclose, not to the jury, but to the court, personal opinions and knowledge about …