Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Adopting Regulatory Objectives For The Legal Profession, Laurel Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Faculty Scholarly Works

In 2007, the United Kingdom adopted a new law called the Legal Services Act. This Act radically changed certain aspects of U.K. lawyer regulation. Section 1 of that Act identified eight “regulatory objectives” that provide the basis for the regulation of the legal profession. The United Kingdom is not the only jurisdiction that has identified regulatory objectives. Most Canadian provinces, for example, have provisions that are tantamount to regulatory objectives. Australia routinely used “purpose statements” when enacting legal profession regulation and was in the process of developing regulatory objectives at the time this article was written. Despite these examples, however, …

Trends And Challenges In Lawyer Regulation: The Impact Of Globalization And Technology, Laurel Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Faculty Scholarly Works

Globalization and technology have changed the practice of law in dramatic ways. This is true not only in the United States, but around the world. In this article, author Laurel Terry, along with Australian regulators Steve Mark and Tahlia Gordon, documented some of these global trends in lawyer regulation. Their article concluded that regulators face issues in common regarding “who” is regulated, “what” or whom is regulated, “when” regulation occurs, “where” regulation occurs, “how” it occurs, and “why” regulation occurs. This article uses this who-what-when-where-why-and-how framework to discuss events around the world. These developments include the 2007 UK Legal Services …

Minor's Personal Injury Actions And Settlements In North Carolina, John M. Kirby

Campbell Law Review

This Article addresses the issues that are peculiar to claims of minors in North Carolina. Persons who are the age of majority prosecute and settle claims that raise numerous substantive and procedural issues. These issues can be compounded, however, when the claimant is a minor. The distinct issues that arise with a minor’s claim include: that a minor is often held to a different standard of conduct; that other persons are held to a higher or different standard of conduct toward a minor; that other persons may have a duty to protect the minor; that courts generally protect the interests …

Insights From A National Conference: "Conflicts Of Interest In The Practice Of Medicine", David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Tending To Potted Plants: The Professional Identity Vacuum In Garcetti V. Ceballos, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Case For Value Billing In Chapter 11, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article explores the forces contributing to very high professional fees in large Chapter 11 cases and suggests that lawyers might want to consider valuing their services in ways other than the traditional billable hour approach.

Fidelity To Law And The Moral Pluralism Premise, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

In Fidelity to Law, Wendel presents and defends a comprehensive theory of legal ethics with two interrelated arguments: a functional argument that law deserves respect because of its capacity to settle normative controversy in a morally pluralistic society; and a normative argument that law deserves respect because democratic lawmaking processes respect the equality and dignity of citizens. This review essay questions Wendel’s move from the premise of moral pluralism to his conclusion that the function of law is to settle normative controversy in society on both practical and theoretical grounds. Practically, it argues that law lacks the capacity to …

Further Perspectives On Corporate Wrongdoing, In Pari Delicto, And Auditor Malpractice, Deborah A. Demott

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agency And The Ontology Of The Corporation, Christopher M. Bruner

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ethics: Conflicts Of Interest Issues In Patent Litigation, Christopher A. Cotropia

Law Faculty Publications

To understand what conflicts to avoid, this Article looks at recent decisions in patent litigation cases where conflict of interest issues have been decided. The discussion is divided up as follows. In Part I, choice of law regarding conflicts issues is discussed. In Part II, the common issues surrounding attorney and/or firm disqualifications for conflicts of interest are explored. Part III looks at conflicts of interest involving current clients. Part IV examines conflicts of interest concerning former clients. In Part V, a different type of conflict of interest—the lawyer as a witness situation—is discussed. Part VI moves to conflicts of …

What We Didn't See Before, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

The essays in this Issue concentrate on a primary, and crucial, cluster of analytic concerns about the ways in which governments, artists, and architects have chosen to represent the concept of justice.

Going Native: Incentive, Identity, And The Inherent Ethical Problem Of In-House Counsel, Pam Jenoff

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Professionalism Down The Tube: The Use Of Social Networking By And Against Lawyers, Janea Raines

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Hela Cells And Unjust Enrichment In The Human Body, Deleso A. Alford

Journal Publications

Henrietta Lacks achieved fame and immortality in the world of science. In 1951, Johns Hopkins Hospital harvested the tissue of Ms. Lacks, a 31-year-old African American woman diagnosed with cervical cancer to mass produce "HeLa cells."' The money derived from her cell line produced wonders and scientific breakthroughs in technology, biology and medicine which "far exceeds that reflected in the published literature, because it is the reference cell in so many research laboratories.”

In this essay, I place Ms. Lacks' parts (tissue cells) back into her body to raise a claim of unjust enrichment. I discuss the ongoing debate as …

Message In Mortgage: What Dodd-Frank's 'Qualified Mortgage' Tells Us About Ourselves, David Reiss

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Why Your Secretary Is Really Worth A Million Dollars: Exploring The Harsh Penalty For Not Proofreading Your Fee Agreements In Anglo-Dutch Petroleum V. Greenberg Peden., James M. Parker Jr., J.K. Leonard

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article examines the Texas Supreme Court's decision in Anglo-Dutch Petroleum International, Inc. v. Greenberg Peden, P.C. Next, this Article discusses the decision in light of other cases dealing with attorney-client contract issues. Then, an explanation of why the court's decision is inconsistent with other opinions is provided. This Article next analyzes the long-term effects of the Anglo-Dutch decision and the lessons to be learned from the case about drafting contracts and lawyers' obligations to inform clients of material terms. Finally, this Article suggests that the court's decision decreases the legal protection extended to lawyers and holds them closer to …

Taking Limited Representation To The Limits: The Efficacy Of Using Unbundled Legal Services In Domestic-Relations Matters Involving Litigation., Michele N. Struffolino

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The use of unbundled legal services is nothing new in this country, and it is often preferable to no representation at all. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct expressly permit attorneys to provide limited representation to their clients. Domestic-relations attorneys, in particular, have tried to ease the burden on litigants by offering unbundled legal services. However, the use of unbundled services in domestic[1]relations matters has caused difficulties for litigants, attorneys, and the courts. For these domestic-relations cases in particular, full service representation is crucial. To provide full satisfaction for their clients and to fulfill their ethical duty, domestic-relations attorneys must …

Malpractice Liability Related To Foreign Outsourcing Of Legal Services., Vincent R. Johnson, Stephen C. Loomis

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The outsourcing of client-related tasks to service providers in other countries is likely to generate malpractice claims against American law firms. This Article discusses the wide range of theories under which an outsourcing American law firm may be liable for its own negligence or for the actions of outsourcing providers. These theories include negligence by the outsourcing law firm, vicarious liability for the conduct of firm principals and employees, vicarious liability for the conduct of independent contractors, and vicarious liability for the conduct of business partners.

Civility And Collegiality—Unreasonable Judicial Expectations For Lawyers As Officers Of The Court?, Lonnie T. Brown Jr.

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

It is a well-settled and often-recited fact that lawyers are "officers of the court." That title, however, is notoriously hortatory and devoid of meaning. Nevertheless, the Eleventh Circuit recently took the somewhat unprecedented step of utilizing the officer-of-the-court label to, in effect, sanction an attorney for the purportedly uncivil act of failing to provide defendant attorneys with pre-suit notice. While the author applauds the court's desire to place greater emphasis on lawyer-to-lawyer collegiality as a component of officer-of-the-court status, the uncertainty the decision creates in terms of a lawyer's role will potentially force litigators to compromise important client-centered duties. This …

A Custom Fit: Tailoring Texas Civil Jury Selection Procedures To Case Tiers., Jarod S. Gonzalez

St. Mary's Law Journal

Citizens serving on a civil jury are entrusted with making factual decisions about disputes that impact legal rights and remedies of litigants and set standards for the behavior of the public. Unfortunately, civil jury trials take place less frequently in twenty-first century Texas than in prior eras. Part of the justice system’s rejuvenation should involve a re-evaluation and improvement of the current process for selecting civil juries. Currently, the primary flaw in Texas jury selection procedures is the one-size-fits-all approach. Because some cases need twelve impartial jurors who are lay persons, and others require twelve people who are knowledgeable of …