Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Remarks At Monroe Freedman’S Memorial, Eric Lane

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aggregate Settlements And Attorney Liability: The Evolving Landscape, Lynn A. Baker

Hofstra Law Review

This Article was prepared for the Hofstra Law Review conference on "Lawyers as Targets: Suing, Prosecuting, and Defending Lawyers." Over the past several decades, attorneys involved in mass tort settlements, especially those representing the plaintiffs, have faced an increasing number of large-dollar liability claims centered on the aggregate settlement rule: that is, the state equivalents to Rule 1.8(g) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. During this period, courts have held that fee forfeiture, potentially totaling millions of dollars, is an appropriate remedy for violations of the Rule, even in the absence of any demonstrated economic harm to the …

Legal Malpractice In International Business Transactions, Vincent R. Johnson

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reflections Of An Ethics Expert And A Lawyer Who Retains Him, M. H. Hoeflich, Bill Skepnek

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lawyers On Trial: Juror Hostility To Defendants In Legal Malpractice Trials, Herbert M. Kritzer, Neil Vidmar

Hofstra Law Review

In contrast to medical malpractice, legal malpractice is a phenomenon that has attracted little attention from empirically-oriented scholars. This paper is part of a larger study of legal malpractice claiming and litigation. Given the evidence on the frequency of legal malpractice claims, there are surprisingly few legal malpractice cases that result in jury verdicts. There are many possible explanations for this, one of which reflects the perception that lawyers are held in such low esteem by potential jurors that they risk harsh treatment by jurors when they are defendants in legal malpractice trials. Because we could find no empirical evidence …

The Litigation Privilege: Its Place In Contemporary Jurisprudence, Louise Lark Hill

Hofstra Law Review

Historically, lawyers have been immune from civil liability for statements related to litigation which may injure or offend an opposing party during the litigation process. This protection is referred to as the “litigation privilege,” which originated in medieval English jurisprudence and continues to be recognized in the United States today. The rationale supporting the litigation privilege is that the integrity of the adversary system outweighs any monetary interest of a party injured by her adversary. Remedies other than lawsuits are available to parties who feel they have been damaged “by malicious statements or conduct during litigation.” For instance, misconduct in …

The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Whether And When Mandatory Disclosure Under Model Rule 4.1(B) Trumps Discretionary Disclosure Under Model Rule 1.6(B), Peter R. Jarvis, Trisha M. Rich

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

A No-Fault Remedy For Legal Malpractce?, Melissa Mortazavi

Hofstra Law Review

The last forty years have seen a marked rise in legal malpractice lawsuits. Recent numbers show that no abatement is in sight; instead the number of large legal malpractice claims is steadily increasing. Although lawyers have a personal interest in limiting liability, they also have a professional one in protecting clients from harm arising due to malpractice. But how can the legal profession curtail and manage malpractice liability while also providing relief to injured clients? Applying existing tort scholarship on no-fault alternative systems to professional legal services, this Article argues that no-fault may be a viable option in many common …

Dealing With Conflicts And Disqualification Risks Professionally, James B. Kobak Jr

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Some Early Thoughts On Liability Standards For Online Providers Of Legal Services, Benjamin H. Barton

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Policyholder Rights To Independent Counsel: Issues Remain Regarding Compensation, Supervision Of Counsel, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

More than 30 years ago, a California appellate court decision (San Diego Navy Federal Credit Union v. Cumis Insurance Society, 162 Cal. App. 3d 358 (4th Dist. 1984)) worked a revolution of sorts by ruling that, in cases of conflict between an insurer and a policyholder defending against a plaintiff's claim, the insurer was obligated to permit the policyholder to select its own defense counsel rather than having the case defended by an attorney selected by the insurer. The Cumis movement was more evolutionary than revolutionary in Nevada. Until State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Hansen, …

When Clients Sue Their Lawyers For Failing To Report Their Own Malpractice, Benjamin P. Cooper

Hofstra Law Review

What consequences should befall the lawyer who fails to disclose a significant error to his client? In a previous article, I examined the lawyer’s ethical duty to report his own malpractice to his client, a topic that had previously received little attention from courts and commentators, and concluded that the duty is well-grounded in Rules 1.4 and 1.7. Therefore the lawyer who fails to disclose his error to his client is subject to discipline. This Article addresses the client's ability to state an independent claim against the lawyer for failing to disclose his own malpractice -- a topic that has …

Monroe Freedman: Friend, Role Model, And Colleague, Roy Simon

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Legal Malpractice Is No Longer The Profession’S Dirty Little Secret, Susan Saab Fortney

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Legal Malpractice Is No Longer The Profession's Dirty Little Secret, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

In 1994, Professor Manuel R. Ramos published a law review article called, Legal Malpractice: The Profession's Dirty Little Secret. As suggested by the title, Professor Ramos argued that legal malpractice was a "taboo subject" that has been "ignored by the legal profession, law schools, mandatory continuing legal education ("CLE") programs, and even by scholarly and lay publications." Thirty years later, legal malpractice is an ever-present threat that lawyers cannot afford to ignore.

Scout’S Honor: The Boy Scouts, Judicial Ethics, And The Appearance Of Partiality, Daniel Ortner

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitrator Bias, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Seeking to bring arbitration into disrepute, an evil gremlin might contemplate two starkly different routes. One route would tolerate appointment of pernicious arbitrators, biased and unable to judge independently. An alternate route to shipwreck, also reducing confidence in the integrity of the arbitral process, would establish unrealistic ethical standards that render the arbitrator’s position precarious and susceptible to destabilisation by litigants engaged in dilatory tactics or seeking to annul unfavourable awards. To reduce the risk of having cases decided by either pernicious or precarious arbitrators, those who establish and apply ethical guidelines walk a tightrope between the rival poles of …

Financial Rewards For Whistleblowing Lawyers, Kathleen Clark, Nancy J. Moore

Faculty Scholarship

The federal government relies increasingly on whistleblowers to ferret out fraud, and has awarded whistleblowers over $4 billion under the False Claims Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform and Consumer Protection Act. May lawyers ethically seek whistleblower rewards under these federal statutes? A handful of lawyers have tried to do so as FCA qui tam relators. They have not yet succeeded, but several court decisions suggest that they might be able to do so under confidentiality exceptions to state ethics law, which several courts have held are not preempted by the FCA. No lawyer has been publicly identified as …

Raising The Bar: Establishing An Effective Remedy Against Ineffective Counsel, Joseph H. Ricks

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Professional Responsibility And Liability Aspects Of Vereins, The Swiss Army Knife Of Global Law Firm Combinations, Douglas R. Richmond, Matthew K. Corbin

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Looking ahead, Part II of this Article provides a general overview of the verein model and its governing charter. Part III highlights a variety of ethical considerations for lawyers in verein member firms that are subject to ethics rules based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. These include lawyers' obligation to communicate to clients the relationships between the verein and its member firms, the imputation of conflicts of interest between member firms, and fee-splitting among member firms. Part IV discusses previous efforts to hold vereins and their member firms vicariously liable for the misconduct of another member firm. …