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Ethics

Legal Ethics Forum

Covering Legal Ethics

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Last Entry: May 21, 2013 at 21:51:30

Douglas E. Abrams, " Plagiarism in Lawyers? Written Advocacy (Part 1)"

Posted on May 21, 2013
Short article. Abstract: Professor Abrams authors a column, Writing It Right, in Precedent, the Missouri Bar's quarterly magazine. In a variety of contexts, the column stresses the fundamentals of quality legal writing - precision, conciseness, simplicity and clarity...

American Bankruptcy Institute issues report on ethics in bankruptcy practice

Posted on May 21, 2013
With thanks and a hat tip to Richard Carmody, here are some resources about the ABI's recent report on ethics in bankrupty practice. (It reminds me of the ACTEC gloss on the ethics rules.) The final report: Download Final_Report_ABI_Ethics_Task_Force And...

New California Opinion on Receiving Ostensibly Privileged Document to which Crime Fraud Exception Might Apply

Posted on May 21, 2013
California Opinion 2013-188 asks: If an attorney receives from a non-party a confidential written communication between opposing counsel and opposing counsel?s client, what should the attorney do if the attorney reasonably believes that the communication may not be privileged because...

IRS official to take the Fifth (and probably wishes she had chosen candor)

Posted on May 21, 2013
On a day when Senator Hatch accused a lawyer (Steven Miller) of lying by omission for failing to correct earlier false statements to Congress, we are told that another lawyer (Lois Lerner) will take the Fifth Amendment rather than testify...

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Anatomy of a Murder In New York (sort of)

Posted on May 21, 2013
The video clip from Anatomy of a Murder in which Paul Biegler (Jimmy Stewart) meets with his client Lt. Frederic Manion (Ben Gazzara) and tells him the legal defenses to homicide before asking what happened is, of course, often used...

Recent Conference on the OLC Torture Memos

Posted on May 20, 2013
[Tigran Edlred passes along this news.] For those with a continuing interest in the OLC torture memos (which have been discussed extensively on LEF), you might be interested in a recent symposium hosted by the New England Journal on Criminal...

Bruce Green, "Federal Criminal Discovery Reform: A Legislative Approach"

Posted on May 20, 2013
Article. Given that this is the 50th anniversary of Brady, and given all the inadequacies we've seen in the DOJ's exercise of that duty, isn't it time for a legislatve solution? Abstract: In general, discovery is far narrower in federal...

DOJ Inspector General's report: US Attorney unlawfully leaked to discredit critic

Posted on May 20, 2013
The Inspector General released a report about an unlawful leak by the then-US-Attorney arising out of the "Fast and Furious" snafu. We discussed the matter when it the issue arose, but now the IG report is out. (We've also repeated...

The DOJ briefs opposing the Florida and Kentucky ethics opinions on IAC waivers -- and the Virginia opinion

Posted on May 20, 2013
To follow up on a prior post, below are the DOJ briefs asking that the Florida and Kentucky opinions on IAC waivers be vacated. And here is the Virginia opinion, LEO 1857 (which strikes me as overreaching, even though my...

Bad or Stupid? The Lawyers of the Canadian PM

Posted on May 20, 2013
Some of you may know that this has been an interesting week in Canadian politics. There was the allegedly crack smoking mayor of Toronto (to see the video donate at the "crackstarter" campaign on Gawker) and, as well, a story...

Josh Bowers, "Lafler, Frye, and the Subtle Art of Winning by Losing"

Posted on May 19, 2013
Article. Abstract: In its recent decisions, Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye, the Court recognized defendants? rights to effective assistance of plea-bargaining counsel. Counter-intuitively, however, it is the government that may come to benefit most from the Court?s rulings...

Why Not Plant the IRS Question with the Congress?

Posted on May 19, 2013
After reading the WSJ round-up of testimony about the planted question by the IRS, I have to wonder: if Lois Lerner and Steve Miller spent time that week carefully planting a question for the ABA conference as a vehicle to...

Waiving IAC claims (and a bleg for sources, committee opinions, etc.)

Posted on May 19, 2013
Rick Underwood's comment to an earlier post highlighted a hot issue that I'm trying to get a better handle on: the enforceabilty of a waiver of IAC claims by an accused. I found this law review article by Nancy King...

"Wal-Mart's whistle-blower problem: Public revelations trump privilege"

Posted on May 18, 2013
Alison Frankel, at Thomson Reuters, has the story. Read the whole thing but here's a key excerpt: "Attorney-client privilege confers powerful protection over confidential corporate documents. But according to a ruling Thursday by Chancellor Leo Strine of Delaware Chancery Court,...

Rob Bejesky, "An Albatross for the Government Legal Advisor Under MRPC Rule 8.4"

Posted on May 18, 2013
Article. Abstract: Rule 8.4 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct requires lawyers to impart honest representations of the law and candid legal advice. Rebuke roused due to advisory opinions furnished by government attorneys who offered an unchecked vision of...

OJ Simpson's lawyer fights back (to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel)

Posted on May 18, 2013
News story here. Talk Left has views. There have been recent opinions by the ABA and the DC Bar about the ethics of responding to a former client's claim that you rendered ineffective assistance of counsel.

"Viewpoint: Court Struggles to Regulate Attorney Blogging"

Posted on May 18, 2013
Richard Zitrin offers this op-ed.

"Class Action a la Francais?" Is American-style litigation heading to la belle France?

Posted on May 17, 2013
McGuire Woods notes that the French are considering allowing a form of class action that is far less robust than we have here in the USA. Still, it seems that some American plaintiffs lawyers are eyeing a chance to go...

Leslie C. Levin, Christine Zozula & Peter Siegelman, " A Study of the Relationship between Bar Admissions Data and Subsequent Lawyer Discipline"

Posted on May 17, 2013
Article. Abstract: The research reported here uses information from the admissions files of lawyers admitted to the Connecticut bar from 1989 to 1992 to compare those who were disciplined with those who were not disciplined. It analyzes information reported during...

IRS scandal: where were the IRS and WH lawyers?

Posted on May 17, 2013
UPDATE: the New York Times is now reporting that the general counsel of the Treasury was informed in 2012, before the election, of the Inspector General's investigation. I have the same questions about that lawyer (as well as IRS and...

Are You Heading to the ABA-CPR Conference in San Antonio?

Posted on May 17, 2013
Alberto Bernabe passes on this news about meet-ups there. For those of you planning to attend the upcoming ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility in San Antonio, I would like to let you know of two activities organized by the...

Why Was a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State also Working for a Political Intelligence Firm?

Posted on May 17, 2013
According to this story, Secretary of State Clinton?s closest advisor at the State Department, Huma Abedin changed her status to part time and became a special government employee (SGE) when she went on maternity leave (this is understandable, particularly when...

Nora Freeman Engstrom, "Attorney Advertising and the Contingency Fee Cost Paradox"

Posted on May 16, 2013
Article. Abstract: It has long been taken as gospel that attorney advertising drives down the cost of legal services. The Supreme Court assumed it when first permitting attorney advertising in the landmark First Amendment case, Bates v. State Bar of....

CIA looking for ethics counsel

Posted on May 16, 2013
Job description here. (h/t Lisa Lerman) Excerpt: The Office of General Counsel is seeking a highly qualified Ethics Counsel at the GS-13 to GS-15 level to join its exciting and challenging legal practice. The ethics practice at CIA provides the...

Citi: "Law firm managing partners express weakened confidence"

Posted on May 16, 2013
Thomson Reuters carries the story. Excerpt: "Even as the overall economy strengthened in March and April, law firm managing partners expressed increasing pessimism about their firms' financial prospects, according to a new survey by Citi Private Bank...

Key Amendment Introduced by Minnesota State Representative David Fitzsimmons Protects Churches and other Religious Organizations from Frivolous Lawsuits

Posted on May 16, 2013
Just because a lawsuit is weak ? with no precedent to support it ? does not mean a plaintiffs? lawyer won?t try to bring it. It is a miscarriage of justice when any defendant must spend money defending a frivolous...

Eliminate the 'C' Grade in Law School?

Posted on May 16, 2013
Professor Joshua M. Silverstein at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock argues yes in his article, A Case for Grade Inflation in Legal Education. The article has been reported in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the ABA...

random thoughts about scandals (e.g., the AG recused but no written record?)

Posted on May 16, 2013
Attorney General Eric Holder testified that he was recused from the leak investigation that ended up gathering telephone records about AP reporters, but that there is no writing to memorialize the recusal. Are there any experts out there who can...

IRS scandal: why reveal at the ABA conference? (The answer isn't flattering to the IRS)

Posted on May 15, 2013
I earlier asked why the IRS announced their error at an ABA conference, of all places. Recall that the Congress of the United States had on several occasions asked about this issue and had received "exculpatory no" answers from the...

Profile of Ted Frank, who challenges fee awards in class actions

Posted on May 15, 2013
The digital version of The American Lawyer carries a profile of Ted Frank, who has built a practice area of objecting to fee awards. Frank blogs at Point of Law.

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