Ethics

Renee Knake sends along this post:

Thanks both to John Steele, who recently featured my article on the Supreme Court?s increased attention to the law of lawyering during the upcoming term, and to Andrew Perlman for presenting me with the opportunity to guest blog about this topic.  As John?s previous post notes, to date, the Court has agreed to hear six cases involving issues related to the ethical duties and legal obligations of attorneys.  This number of cases struck me as unusual, and worthy of some investigation.  Indeed, by my count, the most such cases the Court has considered during any term over the past decade is three, and at times the number is as few as one or two, if any. 

My article suggests that this increased number of cases may signal a newfound prioritization of professional responsibility issues.  I?d welcome any thoughts on whether others think that this occurrence is mere coincidence, or perhaps something more.

I plan to blog about the cases as the Court hears the oral arguments this fall.  The first case that the Court will take up is Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, scheduled for October 5.  In the meantime, here is a list of the cases and the legal ethics questions raised:

(1) Do provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act regulating attorneys? advice to clients and mandating certain advertisement disclosures violate the First Amendment?  Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A., et al. v. United States, 541 F.3d 785 (8^th Cir. 2008)   

(2) Is an attorney?s faulty advice grounds for setting aside a criminal defendant?s guilty plea? Padilla v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 253 S.W.3d 482 (Ky. 2008)

(3) When, if ever, does a novice attorney?s inexperience constitute ineffective assistance of counsel? Wood v. Allen, 542 F.3d 1281 (11^th Cir. 2008)

(4) Should a court?s order compelling production of privileged materials be immediately appealable? Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter, 541 F.3d 1048 (11^th Cir. 2008)

(5) Can quality of performance and results obtained justify an enhancement to an attorney?s fee award under a federal fee-shifting statute? Perdue v. Kenny A., 532 F.3d 1209 (11^th Cir. 2008)

(6) May a prosecutor be liable for civil damages for procuring false testimony and introducing that evidence against a criminal defendant at trial? Pottawattamie County v. McGhee, 547 F.3d 922 (8^th Cir. 2008)