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Ethics

Legal Ethics Forum

Covering Legal Ethics

Post Frequency: 11.2/day

Last Entry: August 14, 2020 at 13:23:48

Charade of Effective Assistance Challenged

Posted on December 24, 2009
Michigan Faces Constitutional Case Over Cash-Strapped Public Defenders Tresa Baldas The National Law Journal December 24, 2009 Are Michigan's public defenders improperly pushing the poor into copping pleas? The Michigan Supreme Court will consider that question this spring when it...

Lynne Stewart to be resentenced

Posted on December 24, 2009
Amended Ruling Could Mean Tougher Term for Disbarred Terror Case Lawyer New York Law Journal The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released on Wednesday an amended opinion on the resentencing of Lynne Stewart, adding language that appears to require....

Dechert sued in Dreier scandal fallout

Posted on December 22, 2009
WSJ Law Blog has the details and links to the complaint, which turns on an opinion letter written by the firm.

Ninth Circuit chastises California state lawyers for false statements

Posted on December 22, 2009
The court saw a "clear violation" of the ethics rule against making false statements to the court.

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Prosecutors Run Wild

Posted on December 21, 2009
Here is a story about one of the most dangerous of prosecutorial abuses, prosecutors who target effective criminal defense lawyers by turning their clients with plea deals. The Fulton County Daily Report has a long and disturbing article about it....

Will the same sex marriage trial be televised?

Posted on December 18, 2009
According to this story, because the trial is non-jury, the Ninth Circuit's new rules may permit it to be televised.

UK lawyer offers divorce consultation vouchers as Christmas gifts

Posted on December 18, 2009
Yeesh. The coupons are for discounted initial consultations on divorce issues.

DC holds that flat fees aren't earned before [some] work is done

Posted on December 18, 2009
As the folks at Hinshaw explain, the DC Court of Appeals (not the DC Circuit) held in In re Mance, 980 A.2d 1196 (D.C. 2009) that, in the future, flat fees must be held in trust until earned and that...

Philip Kay hit with recommendation of 3 year suspension

Posted on December 17, 2009
Philip Kay, who brought and won the famous Rena Weeks sexual harassment case against a biglaw firm and partner, and who them became embroiled in a fee division dispute with co-counsel, was recommended for severe sanctions stemming from trial misconduct.

Jenia Iontcheva Turner: "Legal Ethics in International Criminal Defense"

Posted on December 16, 2009
Article here. (nod to International Law Reporter) Abstract: This paper examines the new and complex dilemmas facing defense attorneys who represent clients before international criminal courts. It argues that the unique features and goals of international criminal trials demand a...

odds and ends (December 16, 2009)

Posted on December 16, 2009
"India shuts its doors on foreign firms" . . . . Big malpractice claim against biglaw firm in big transaction, via New York Attorney Malpractice Blog. . . . . Over at the Ethical Quandary, they're covering what happens to...

Former juror e-mails trial lawyer....

Posted on December 16, 2009
I'll disguise the facts a bit. I was asked: You tried a civil case. Much at stake. You win. Three weeks later, a juror on the case sends you an e-mail after having discovered that you are on a social...

Transcript from hearing in US v. Ruehle

Posted on December 16, 2009
Via the WSJ law blog, here's the transcript. You don't read orders like that very often.

Tigran Eldred: "The Psychology of Conflicts of Interest in Criminal Cases"

Posted on December 15, 2009
Article here by Tigran Eldred. Abstract: This article demonstrates that current Sixth Amendment jurisprudence fails to account for how defense lawyers respond to conflicts of interest in criminal cases. Too often, the Supreme Court has made assumptions about the behavior...

"Guantanamo Experiences Can Leave Lawyers Drained"

Posted on December 15, 2009
Article here.

Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Ruehle case leads to dismissals

Posted on December 15, 2009
Judge's findings about misconduct are pretty shocking.

Social Psychology & Behavioral Economics & Legal Ethics

Posted on December 11, 2009
A colleague recently asked my views on the best works applying social psychology and behavioral economics to issues of professional responsibility. He was interested in what LEF readers thought. I've written a litlte bit on the subject, including a review...

Florida State Bar on judges and "friending"; Litigation funding remains controversial

Posted on December 11, 2009
The NYT covers the Florida State Bar's action, and quotes our very own Steve Gillers. . . . . Is sophisticated funding of business-to-business suits OK, while funding of class actions is not OK (because it aims to create "perfect...

Nora Freeman Engstrom: "Run-of-the-Mill Justice"

Posted on December 10, 2009
Article here. Abstract: This Article examines a particular form of heretofore unexamined personal injury law practice that has proliferated across the United States. These law firms, which I call settlement mills, are characterized by their high claim volume, aggressive advertising,...

Predicting BigLaw's 2010

Posted on December 10, 2009
WSJ blog discusses the financial year-in-review for biglaw and muses on what's up next. More here. Related thoughts here about teaching law students more about the practice of law. Over the years, I've had several MBA/JD students tell me how...

Conscience and the Common Good

Posted on December 10, 2009
If anyone on your gift list has a strange fascination with the liberty of conscience, you might want to check out my hot-off-the-presses book from Cambridge UP, Conscience and the Common Good. Legal ethics types might also be interested, as...

Holmes's Bad Man as A.G.

Posted on December 09, 2009
I've written about the Holmesian bad man stance, i.e. the notion that the reason-giving force of a law is entirely a matter of the desire of a citizen to avoid sanctions. H.L.A. Hart's idea of the internal aspect of rules...

The Beat (the Rap) Goes On, and Innocence Be Damned

Posted on December 09, 2009
From BNA Absolute Immunity Shields Prosecutors' Delay In Revealing Results of Post-Trial DNA Testing A criminal defendant who was wrongfully convicted of murder cannot sue prosecutors for their delay in disclosing the exculpatory results of post-conviction DNA test results, the...

odds and ends (December 9, 2009)

Posted on December 09, 2009
What happens to privilege when you use a company computer to communicate with your lawyer? Thoughts here. . . . . Sad news from LA. Legal ethics and malpractice lawyer Jeffrey Tidus, a former member of the Board of the...

NYT article on capital defense panel lawyers in NYC who might represent the accused terrorists

Posted on December 08, 2009
Well done article, although it's not about lawyers who have actually been appointed to the KSM trial. It's an interesting look into a specialized, niche bar and the personal issues any lawyer might face if she took that kind of...

Foreign sites on legal ethics and practical ethics

Posted on December 08, 2009
This motto of this Dutch site Rechtsethiek.nl is "Wat de jurist betaamt: de ethiek van het juridische beroep," which translates through Google's translator as: "As befits the lawyer: the ethics of the legal profession." . . . . Disciplinarium, written...

Court Says No Immediate Appeal for Attorney-Client Privilege

Posted on December 08, 2009
The Supreme Court's opinion in Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter is now available here. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion, explaining: "The question before us is whether disclosure orders adverse to the attorney-client privilege qualify for immediate appeal under the collateral...

Discriminating against lefties (or righties) in law firm hiring: against the ethics rules?

Posted on December 07, 2009
The blawgosphere is buzzing with discussion of this weekend's NYT column by "The Ethicist," Randy Cohen, which dealt with a law firm associate who rejected job seekers who had belonged to the Federalist Society. In California, there's an ethics rule....

Odds and ends (December 7, 2009)

Posted on December 07, 2009
Lawyer Robert Simels was sentenced to 14 years in jail for witness tampering. . . . . Lawyers get in more car crashes than any other profession besides doctors? . . . . Connecticut takes action against lawyers involved with...

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