Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Re-Designing Law And Lawyering For The Information Age, Thomas D. Barton

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

This Article analyzes the intersection of three aspects of law, lawyering, and Information Age technology and culture, describing how they disrupt and inhibit one another even as they supply possible opportunities for each to grow and innovate. The Article urges that Information Age challenges to traditional legal institutions and thinking become the foundation for reforms to legal systems and individual lawyering. In embracing changes made possible by emerging technology, the Rule of Law may be strengthened globally and the Preventive/Proactive style of lawyering can be re-invigorated. The Article begins by describing the Preventive/Proactive lawyering ("PPL") style, and offers an example …

Panel Introduction

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Helping Profession : Can Pro Bono Lawyers Make Sick Children Well?, Lorne Sossin

Articles & Book Chapters

"Can pro bono lawyers make sick children well? Surprisingly, the answer might be yes. Or at least pro bono lawyers can improve patients’ experiences and health outcomes for families caught up in the hospital system. ... a pioneering initiative in Boston to locate legal clinics in hospitals. Word of this experiment reached Pro Bono Law Ontario (PBLO), an organization active in referring hospital cases to lawyers willing to take on pro bono cases. The benefits of coordinating such cases through a hospital-based pro bono clinic were clear, and the Family Legal Health Program, renamed PBLO at SickKids, was born."

The Prosecutor's Ethical Duty To End Mass Incarceration, Angela J. Davis

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Lawyer Regulators To Increase Client & Public Protection Through Adoption Of A Proactive Regulation System, Laurel S. Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

This Article focuses on those who regulate U.S. laywers. The Article argues that the lawyers who head regulatory bodies in the United States have the ability to adjust the focus of the regulator for which they work in a way that will increase client and public protection. The Article further argues that it is appropriate for lawyers in these positions to exercise this power and that they should do so. The Article concludes by offering two concrete recommendations.

The first recommendation is that those who are in charge should, upon reflection, adopt a mindset in which they recognize that the …

The Power Of Lawyer Regulators To Increase Client & Public Protection Through Adoption Of A Proactive Regulation System, Laurel Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

The idea behind this Article is Ben Franklin's statement that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This Article builds on the author's prior articles that argue that one can think about lawyer regulation issues as involving who-what-when-where-why-and-how to regulate issues. This Article addresses the issue of "WHEN" regulation should occur. It argues that regulators should be trying to PREVENT problems, as well as responding AFTER problems occur. This Article is primarily directed toward those who regulate U.S. lawyers. The Article argues that the lawyers who head regulatory bodies in the United States have the ability to …

Trafficking Smuggled Migrants: An Issue Of Vulnerability, Rachel A. Hews

Global Tides

This paper analyzes why the UN’s efforts against the sex trafficking of smuggled migrants, specifically regarding the Palermo and Smuggling Protocols, have been inadequate in preventing migrant smuggling. It concludes that the crime-based focus on prosecution overshadows prevention of the crime and protection of the victims, and that a human rights approach addressing the vulnerability of smuggled migrants would be more effective in reducing migrant smuggling long-term. Proposed solutions include decreasing both the “push” and “pull” factors of migration by ratifying existing legislation regarding basic human rights, implementing national policies that increase migrant rights in destination countries, and shifting further …

Correlates Of Ethical Sensitivity And Reasoning And Their Potential Influence On Accounting Education, Michael Francis Ruff

2016

This dissertation consists of three studies investigating the impact of accounting ethics interventions on graduate students in accountancy. This dissertation relies primarily on neo-Kohlbergian theory and Rest’s framework of ethical behavior (Rest 1979, 1986) because this framework has figured prominently in the body of accounting and auditing research on ethics and professionalism.

The first study reviews and synthesizes the current state of the literature regarding accounting ethics. This literature review starts with definitions and follows with a history and evolution of ethics theories, with an emphasis on neo-Kohlbergian theory, Rest’s Four Component Model of ethical behavior, the Defining Issues Test …

The Ethics Of Non-Traditional Contract Drafting, Lori D. Johnson

Scholarly Works

A new generation of contract drafters faces increasing commentary advising them to change traditional contract terms into plain language constructions. Yet, traditional, tested terms have consistent meanings, and when these meanings benefit client objectives, advocates should consider retaining them. This article posits that failing to do so can impact a lawyer’s ethical obligations. Specifically, an attorney’s duties of competence, allocation of authority, diligence, and communication under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct require careful thought about modernizing tested contract terms. These duties require the ethical drafter to research whether the use of a traditional, tested term advances a client goal …

Domestic Violence And The Politics Of Self-Help, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

Scholarly Works

Self-help programs are conceptualized as alternatives to attorney representation that can help both courts and unrepresented litigants. The rhetoric of self-help also typically includes empowering unrepresented individuals to help themselves. But how do self-help programs respond to litigants’ efforts at self-advocacy? This Article reports findings from a study of courthouse self-help programs assisting unrepresented litigants applying for protection orders. The central finding is that self-help staff members were not neutral in the provision of services despite a professed ethic of neutrality. Using the sociological concept of demeanor, this Article shows that staff members rewarded protection order applicants who conformed to …

The House Edge: On Gambling And Professional Discipline, Stacey A. Tovino

Scholarly Works

On March 26, 2014, the Iowa Supreme Court revoked the license to practice law of Cedar Rapids attorney Susan Hense. Admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1996, Hense subsequently misappropriated $837,000 in client trust funds to feed her addiction to casino gambling. This Article assesses how attorneys like Hense who are addicted to gambling are treated in professional disciplinary actions, including license suspension, revocation, and reinstatement proceedings. Themes that emerge include public misunderstanding of gambling disorder, stigma against individuals with gambling disorder, statutory recognition of substance addictions but not behavioral addictions, and mandatory attendance at religion based fellowship meetings as …

Pro Bono At University Of Richmond School Of Law, Tara L. Casey

Law Faculty Publications

“Pro bono” is often the first legal Latin that a law student learns, before other courses come in with their res ipsa loquitur and in flagrante delicto. The reason for this primacy is the greater emphasis law schools have placed upon pro bono programming in the past ten to fifteen years.

The Past, Present, And Future Of Predictive Coding, Matthew G. Kenney

Florida A & M University Law Review

Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, refers to the discovery of electronically stored documents and images.' Examples of e-discovery related documentation would include email, digital versions of paper documents (e.g. MS Word, PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint), social media postings, digital photos, Global Positioning System data, and content within computerized databases, etc. Digital data stored on computers, smartphones, tape drives, hard-drives, portable digital storage devices and the like would fall under the domain of e-discovery. Collecting and sorting massive amounts of electronically stored data presents both opportunities and challenges for lawyers.

For context: In 2015, electronic discovery was a $10.2 billion global industry. …

Running Past Landmines--The Estate Attorney's Dilemma: Ethically Counseling The Client With Alzheimer's Disease, Joseph Karl Grant

Journal Publications

This Article examines the ethical dilemmas faced by attorneys who represent clients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. To do so, this Article raises three (3) hypothetical case studies,and applies the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel ("ACTEC") Commentaries, where appropriate, to those hypothetical case studies. Additionally, this Article proposes initiatives to ameliorate the lack of awareness and discussion of Alzheimer's disease in the law school curriculum, and finally, modest initiatives that the practicing bar can embrace to further a discussion and awareness among practicing attorneys about the ethical dilemma attorneys face in …

The "New Normal" For Educating Lawyers, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

This article examines who law professors are and what their roles consist of when educating law students. The article discusses the ethical and moral dilemmas that law professors can find themselves in while trying to be competent and trustworthy in their teaching. The article also discusses the role of mentor and counselor as they guide students’ in creating their professional identities.

Practicing Practical Wisdom, Deborah J. Cantrell, Kenneth Sharpe

Publications

Wisdom is not an innate character trait; no one automatically is wise; wisdom is learned and acquired. More importantly, one can learn and acquire wisdom intentionally and skillfully — one can practice it. And, if the practice is structured in particular ways, the practice will improve one’s capacities to act with wisdom. This article clarifies theoretical muddiness and pedagogical imprecision by bringing together two important and robust strands of legal ethics literature. The first strand focuses on what the appropriate role of a lawyer is in a just society, while the second focuses on how a lawyer learns to be, …

Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted: A Proposal To Make Victims Of Wrongful Incarceration Whole Again, Alanna Trivelli

Law Student Publications

Part I of this comment presents a brief overview of the current state compensation systems for those who are wrongly imprisoned, including model legislation proposed by the Innocence Project and the current shortcomings of compensation statutes across the United States. Part II discusses the principles behind compensatory damages in tort law, and the foundation and reasoning for making a victim whole again. Varying forms of relief are also discussed. Part III applies these principles of tort law to the arena of wrongful convictions to show states have a responsibility to make victims of wrongful convictions whole again. Potential problems arising …

Everyone Makes Mistakes: Attorney's Fee Recovery In Legal Malpractice Suits, Sande L. Buhai

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article argues that the American Rule should be changed for legal malpractice suits because the attorney–client relationship is the quintessential fiduciary relationship and because of the added concern of unequal information available to each party as a result of the large disparity in power. Attorneys must abide by ethical rules and owe fiduciary duties to their clients, which include the duties of competence, diligence, and loyalty. Because it is this very relationship that distinguishes legal malpractice suits from an ordinary lawsuit, awarding attorney’s fees to the damaged plaintiff client helps maintain fiduciary relationships and furthers the interests of justice. …

Judicial Disqualification And Recusal In Criminal Cases, Edward L. Wilkinson

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The United States Supreme Court has recognized circumstances in which the probability of judicial bias requiring disqualification or recusal is “too high to be constitutionally tolerable.” At the same time, the Texas Constitution contains a number of provisions barring a judge from presiding over a case under specific circumstances, while statutes and procedural rules either disqualify a judge or require him or her to be recused. Thus, whether a particular judge may preside over a given criminal case may be questioned under the Due Process Clause, the Texas Constitution, statue, or the rules of procedure. This Article will examine the …

The Dilemma Of Interpreting Rules Of Civil Procedure: A Proposal For Elastic Formalism., L. Wayne Scott

St. Mary's Law Journal

When lawyers are well prepared, know the law, present the law, and have it ignored by judges who interpret the law in their own way, it can be frustrating. When courts publish opinions embodying this attitude, students, too, become frustrated or conclude that the law is whatever judges decide it should be. This Article does not focus on unethical judges who decide cases with wrong motives but, rather, it focuses on ethical judges who are faced with “hard” cases and have the dilemma of deciding the case, either by the rule or by the judge’s concept of fairness. In both …