Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Learning From South Korea’S Covid-19 Response: Why Centralizing The United States Public Health System Is Essential For Future Pandemic Responses, Meghan Ricci

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark differences in governmental preparedness across the globe. The United States, once thought of as a global leader in public health, had the theoretical skill and efficiency to handle the pandemic but failed to utilize those skills and resources during an actual health crisis. In the spring of 2020, everyone watched the U.S.’s reaction to the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its historic placeholder as a global leader and innovator. However, the performance of the U.S. in response to the global pandemic disappointed both global commentators and U.S. citizens. This paper will compare the …

Resolving The Anders Dilemmas: How & Why Texas Should Abandon The Anders Procedure, Michael J. Ritter

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

When an indigent defendant has a right to counsel for an appeal, and counsel believes the appeal is wholly frivolous, Texas has adopted the Anders v. California procedure that permits counsel to withdraw from representation and argue to the appellate court why their client’s appeal is wholly frivolous. This Article argues that, either by a change to the disciplinary rules or by judicial decision, Texas should abandon the Anders procedure as other states have. Doing so will promote the integrity of the right to counsel, avoid numerous conflicts and dilemmas created by the Anders procedure, and advance judicial efficiency and …

Untangling Attorney Retainers From Creditor Claims, Cassandra Burke Robertson, Jesse T. Wynn

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Clients will often use a retainer to secure an attorney’s representation. But clients in economic distress may have creditors that are eager to access the client’s funds in the attorney’s hands. Attorneys, clients, courts, and regulators have struggled to understand who has the best claim to such retainer funds. In this Article, we attempt to untangle the most common areas of confusion. We conclude that Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) offers strong protection for an attorney’s interest in client retainers through security interests, even though some courts have misapplied the UCC in this context. Further, we recommend …

Ethical Limits On Promising To Pay An Adverse Award Of Attorney’S Fees Against One’S Client, Chase C. Parsons

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Abstract forthcoming.

Chief Loophole Officer Or Chief Legal Officer: Inside Lehman Brothers—A Film Case Study About Corporate And Legal Ethics, Garrick Apollon

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article discusses the continuing legal education (CLE) visual advocacy documentary-style program, which Garrick Apollon (author of this Article) researched and developed. The case study for this CLE documentary-style program is the film Inside Lehman Brothers—a documentary film by Jennifer Deschamps which chronicles the story of the Lehman whistleblowers. The film presents Mathew Lee, former senior vice president overseeing Lehman’s global balance sheet; Oliver Budde, former in-house counsel (associate general counsel) of the Lehman Brothers; and the racialized female mid-tier manager whistleblowers, who all paid a steep price in the 2008 American subprime mortgage crisis, while many of the …

Reconceiving Ethics For Judicial Law Clerks, Gregory Bischoping

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Judicial law clerks hold a unique and critical position in our legal system. They play a central part in the functioning of the judiciary, oftentimes writing the first draft of their judge’s opinions and serving as their trusted researcher and sounding board. Moreover, they are privy to the many highly confidential processes and private information behind the important work of the judiciary. It stands to reason the comprehensive set of ethical duties that bind the world of lawyers and judges should also provide guidance for judicial law clerks. The most important among those ethics rules is a duty of confidentiality. …

Lawyers, Mistakes, And Moral Growth, Vincent R. Johnson

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Vincent R. Johnson, professor at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, reviews The Man in the Ditch: A Redemption Story for Today by Dallas attorney Mike H. Bassett.

The Overreach Of Limits On 'Legal Advice', Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Nonlawyers, including court personnel, are typically prohibited from providing legal advice. But definitions of “legal advice” are unnecessarily broad, creating confusion, disadvantaging self-represented litigants, and possibly raising due process concerns. This Essay argues for a narrower, more explicit definition of legal advice that advances, rather than undercuts, access to justice.

Analysis Of The Application Of The Code Of Ethics Of Judges And Jurors (2022), James Moliterno, Jemali Saiti, Ana Pavlovska-Daneva, Andrej Bozhinovski

Books and Chapters

No abstract provided.

Introducing Students To Ethics And Professionalism Challenges In Virtual Communication, Katherine M. Koops, James E. Moliterno, Carol E. Morgan, Carol D. Newman

Scholarly Articles

As the practice of law, and the conduct of business generally, focuses increasingly on virtual communication, the ethics and professionalism challenges inherent in email, videoconference, text, and telephone communication continue to evolve. These challenges are particularly prevalent in transactional practice, which involves frequent communication with a variety of parties through a variety of communication channels. Exposing law students to these challenges through exercises and simulations contributes to the continued development of their professional identity as lawyers.

This article presents a variety of exercises that introduce students to client confidentiality, inadvertent disclosure, and other ethical issues that often arise in the …

A Study Of Tax Lawyers Discussing Duties, Michelle M. Kwon, Michael Hatfield

Scholarly Works

This Article reports the first qualitative empirical study of U.S. tax lawyers. We interviewed women lawyers who were tax planning specialists. Though this is the first such study of U.S. tax lawyers, this methodology has been used often to study the professional ethics of other tax practitioners around the world. We had three research questions that we sought to answer through dynamic conversations on topics such as the distinctions between good and bad tax plans and good and bad tax lawyers and also the joys and stresses of tax practice. Our first research question was as to the make-up of …

Libraries & Legal Research: Resources For Technological Competency, Virginia Neisler

Law Librarian Scholarship

At the time this article was written, Michigan was one of 39 states that included understanding relevant technologies as a part of the duty of attorney competence. In 2019, the Michigan Supreme Court formally adopted a new comment to MRPC 1.1. With respect to competence as covered under this rule, their comment made explicit that all Michigan attorneys should “engage in continuing study and education, including the knowledge and skills regarding existing and developing technology that are reasonably necessary to provide competent representation for the client in a particular matter” [emphasis added].

In February 2020, the State Bar of Michigan …

Selectively Disciplining Advocates, Bruce A. Green

Connecticut Law Review

After lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election failed spectacularly, some wondered whether the plaintiffs’ lawyers would be disciplined for filing frivolous complaints. Time will tell. But, if these lawyers are not disciplined, one should not be surprised. This Article presents an empirical study of the New York disciplinary process, which confirms that advocates who violate disciplinary rules by overzealously pursuing their clients’ interests, such as by making frivolous claims, are rarely punished in the disciplinary process. That is because disciplinary prosecutors, operating in secret, have discretion as to whether to bring formal charges against lawyers who violate …

The “Corporation Revolution” And The Professional Ethics Of Giving Advice On Executive Protection Issues, Sarah Helene Duggin, Shannon "A.J." Singleton, James D. Wing

Scholarly Articles

In today's law enforcement environment, business entities facing criminal investigations and possible indictment have little practical choice but to cooperate with authorities. Cooperation offers the opportunity to avoid a costly trial and attendant adverse reputational, financial, and morale impacts. Resolution of potential criminal charges, however, almost always requires entities to cooperate with law enforcement efforts to impose criminal liability on individual business executives.

While businesses and their executives once generally perceived their interests as closely aligned, the “Cooperation Revolution” of the last few decades has forced corporate boards and business executives to reassess their individual obligations and risks. In so …

Subversive Legal Education:Reformist Steps Towardabolitionist Visions, Christina John, Russell G. Pearce, Aundray Jermaine Archer, Sarah Medina Camiscoli, Aron Pines, Maryam Salmanova, Vira Tarnavska

Fordham Law Review

Exclusivity in legal education divides traditional scholars, students, and impacted communities most disproportionately harmed by the legal education system. While traditional legal scholars tend to embrace traditional legal education, organic jurists—those who are historically excluded from legal education and those who educate themselves and their communities about their legal rights and realities—often reject the inaccessibility of legal education and its power. This Essay joins a team of community legal writers to imagine a set of principles for subversive legal education. Together, we—formerly incarcerated pro se litigants, paralegals for intergenerational movement lawyering initiatives, first-generation law students and lawyers, persons with years …

Corporal Punishment In The United States: Abolishment Under The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Caroline J. Capili

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Legal Needs, Luz E. Herrera, Amber Baylor, Nandita Chaudhuri, Felipe Hinojosa

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Tag: You Are It! How Amending Garment Labeling Requirements Is A First Step Towards Transparency In The Fashion Industry, Betina A. Baumgarten

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Sitting Ducks And Title Vi Of The Civil Rights Act: Preventing The Siting Of New Prisons Near Harmful Pollutants, Jessa Webber

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Appearance Of Appearances, Michael Ariens

Faculty Articles

The Framers argued judicial independence was necessary to the success of the American democratic experiment. Independence required judges possess and act with integrity. One aspect of judicial integrity was impartiality. Impartial judging was believed crucial to public confidence that the decisions issued by American courts followed the rule of law. Public confidence in judicial decision making promoted faith and belief in an independent judiciary. The greater the belief in the independent judiciary, the greater the chance of continued success of the republic.

During the nineteenth century, state constitutions, courts, and legislatures slowly expanded the instances in which a judge was …