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Academic

Legal Profession Blog

Cover legal ethics, bar discipline, business practice, the tension between the bar and the academy, ethical theory, and comparative legal professions.
By Alan Childress, Mike Frisch, and Jeff Lipshaw

Post Frequency: 40.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:56:26

Not Yet

Posted on October 09, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department denied the application for bar admission of a 41 year old attorney, admitted in Colorado, who has had a longstanding problem with alcohol and chemical abuse. The applicant had both...

Conviction Overturned

Posted on October 09, 2008
A criminal conviction against an attorney and his law firm was reversed on grounds of insufficient evidence by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department. The convictions involved charges of a scheme to fraud and filing false....

No Privacy Right In Client Bills

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Washington State Supreme Court imposed a suspension of one year followed by probation for two years in a bar discipline matter that arose from two earlier bar proceedings. One of the earlier cases involved the lawyer's billing practices; the...

Former State Senator Reinstated

Posted on October 09, 2008
An attorney who had been convicted of misconduct in office while serving in the state senate was ordered reinstated to the practice of law by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The conviction was described as follows by the court: The criminal...

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Representing The Bishop

Posted on October 09, 2008
An attorney who had represented the Episcopal Bishop of Montana in connection with sexual misconduct charges involving an adult parishioner was censured by order of the Tennessee Supreme Court. The attorney had met the Bishop when they both served on...

Probation And The Seven Deadly Sins

Posted on October 08, 2008
An attorney had represented in a client in a series of matters relating to divorce and child support. While a motion for new trial was pending in the divorce action, the attorney drafted a will for the client that bequethed...

Judicial Campaign Charges

Posted on October 08, 2008
WSAW.com reports that: MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- State regulators want to punish the newest member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for running a campaign ad that falsely suggested his opponent freed a child molester. The Wisconsin Judicial Commission says it...

Discipline Too Harsh?

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a proposed two year suspension of an attorney who had neglected a client matter and misrepresented facts to the client and the bar association. The court majority concluded that a suspension of three months was...

Motion Denied

Posted on October 07, 2008
On appeal of the denial of a motion to disqualify counsel, the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department held that the trial court had properly denied the request: In order to disqualify the firm representing plaintiff in...

Post-Doc Fellowship at Indiana-Bloomington on Sociolegal Studies

Posted on October 07, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress A reader [and scholar on law and policy in China], Ethan Michelson, sent us this announcement (thanks) and the link: Jerome Hall Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University-Bloomington The Indiana University Center for Law, Society, and Culture...

They're Here

Posted on October 07, 2008
Not a legal profession case, but somewhat reminiscent of the movie Poltergeist, is a decision issued today from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. The developer of a residential subdivision found a "small, very old cemetery" on one of the...

Probation For False Testimony

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved a conditional admission and imposed a 60 day suspension, stayed in its entirety in favor of two years probation, of an attorney who had testified falsely in a criminal trial. The attorney had claimed...

Insufficient Mitigation Evidence

Posted on October 07, 2008
A two year suspension was imposed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a bar discipline matter where the accused attorney's retained counsel withdrew the week before the hearing. Substitute counsel was not retained and the lawyer represented himself. Because no...

Gathering Evidence

Posted on October 07, 2008
The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a slander lawsuit brought against an attorney and his firm under the following facts: In November 2006, defendant approached Bobby Bracken (?Bracken?), a potential witness in the action originally filed...

No Second Bite

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in a legal malpractice case, holding that the plaintiff was collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of whether the lawyer's conduct had caused harm. The lawyer had been retained to...

"Countervailing Interests"

Posted on October 06, 2008
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that a trial court had properly excluded defense counsel from representation of his client. Although the court acknowledged the Sixth Amendment right to counsel of choice, a number of issues arose during the...

Never Again

Posted on October 06, 2008
An associate of a Georgia law firm with three years experience was "assigned to conduct discovery for a products liability case, despite having very little experience in the area." He failed to forward discovery requests to the client and did...

Admission Denied

Posted on October 06, 2008
The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the denial of bar admission of its Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants, concluding that the applicant had not met his burden of proof of rehabilitation in light of his criminal record. Although [he]...

Reinstatement With Probation Proposed

Posted on October 06, 2008
An attorney admitted in Arizona in 1990 was suspended for non-payment of dues in 2003. He had decided to cease practice after losing his eyesight due to scarring of the corneas. His eyesight began to improve in 2006 and a...

The Wrong Approach

Posted on October 03, 2008
A reinstatement petition was denied by the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. The petitioner had been suspended for eighteen months in 2003 for failure to perform legal services and charging a excessive fee. The decision is worth studying as a road....

Contempt For Pursuing Discovery

Posted on October 03, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a contempt citation against an attorney who had filed suit on behalf of a client suing the Chancellor and President of the University of Arkansas for an alleged failure to properly investigate a campaign of...

Travel Without Permission

Posted on October 03, 2008
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board imposed a one year suspension of an attorney who had violated court orders and testified dishonestly in court proceedings. He had been held in criminal contempt and sought to appeal the conviction. The board found...

Escrow Until Earned

Posted on October 03, 2008
The Iowa Supreme Court adopted a proposed public reprimand of an attorney who had charged an illegal fee and engaged in other misconduct in connection with the representation of a defendant in a drug case. He had agreed to a...

Voted Out Not Removed

Posted on October 02, 2008
A former justice court judge was reprimanded by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The judge was the subject of two complaints alleging that she had exceeded her authority in separate matters. The court sustained the conclusion of the Commission on Judicial...

Uneven Road To Rehabilitation

Posted on October 02, 2008
The California Bar Journal reports: [An attorney] was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on three years of probation with an actual two-year suspension and was ordered to prove her rehabilitation, take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20. The...

A new low in the collegiality wars

Posted on October 02, 2008
A friend of mine from Houston forwarded me this letter (here), which has to be a new low in collegiality. [Nancy Rapoport]

Third Time Is No Charm

Posted on October 02, 2008
The Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed the dismissal of a claim on statute of limitations grounds. The case arose out of a law firm's representation of a client in a foreclosure action. The alleged mishandling of the case resulted in a...

Go With The Flow

Posted on October 01, 2008
A Colorado district attorney was publicly censured in light of a conditional admission that she had "negligently failed to take adequate steps to ensure the free flow of information and materials between investigative personnel and [her] office sufficient to place...

Probation For Intemperate Charges Against Court

Posted on October 01, 2008
The California Bar Journal reports the following disciplinary action against an attorney: [The attorney] was suspended for one year, stayed, placed on one year of probation and was ordered to take the MPRE within a year. The order took effect...

Revolving Door

Posted on October 01, 2008
A former assistant state's attorney for Macon County Illinois has been charged with improperly soliciting and attempting to solicit criminal clients with whom he had had contact while employed in his public position. He is alleged to have approached seven...

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