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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

Recovery Prevents Disbarment

Posted on May 14, 2008
The Louisiana Supreme Court imposed a three-year suspension nunc pro tunc to 2000 (when the attorney had been placed on disability inactive status) in a case involving multiple instances of misconduct that the attorney "largely admitted..." as mitigation, the attorney...

Lubet on Honesty and Lawyers, With Real-Life Examples

Posted on May 13, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Steven Lubet (Northwestern) has just published his NYU Press book, The Importance of Being Honest: How Lying, Secrecy, and Hypocrisy Collide with Truth in Law. Here is an initial review from Publishers' Weekly: Lubet, a law...

Split Sanction Proposed

Posted on May 13, 2008
The Illinois Review Board has recommended a two-year suspension with the second year stayed in favor of probation in a case where the lawyer had neglected an appeal, forged a child support order and other court documents, and had been...

Evidence Excluded

Posted on May 13, 2008
The South Carolina Supreme Court suspended an attorney for six months for misconduct in connection with the settlement of a personal injury claim. The attorney had settled the case without advising the client, signed the client's and her husband's name...

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A Fair Result

Posted on May 13, 2008
An attorney who had fabricated documents and made false statements in response to a bar investigation of an overdraft of a $750 trust account check was suspended on consent for two years by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There was mitigating...

Most Foreboding Headline of the Day

Posted on May 13, 2008
"Germans to recreate the Big Bang with a massive particle acclerator" It forebodes on several levels. [Alan Childress]

"I Am A Merciless SOB"

Posted on May 13, 2008
The Maryland Court of Appeals suspended a judge of the District Court for 30 days without pay who "had used profanity in the courtroom, made comments that manifested bias towards particular groups, disparaged the Judiciary, insulted defendants, and manifested a...

Magistrate Reprimanded, Suspended Until Retirement

Posted on May 12, 2008
The South Carolina Supreme Court issued a public reprimand and prohibited a magistrate judge from seeking or accepting a future judicial position "without the express permission of the Supreme Court." The court accepted the magistrate judge's offer to retire and...

Bad Advice Leads To Reprimand

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Maine Board of Bar Overseers imposed a reprimand as an agreed sanction where the attorney gave incorrect legal advice in a bankruptcy matter concerning the correct listing of a $4,000 debt that the client had been ordered to pay...

"Your Mother..."

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Louisiana Attorney Discipline Board has just updated its web page, which explains the number of bar discipline cases we have posted today from that jurisdiction. Here is a hearing committee report involving opposing counsel who were prosecuted together as...

"Not A Wise Move"

Posted on May 12, 2008
In a very interesting opinion, a hearing committee of the Louisiana Attorney Discipline Board has recommended the reinstatement of an attorney who had been suspended for three years for misconduct that had taken place in connection with two nation wide...

Conditional Bar Admission

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Louisiana Supreme Court ordered that an applicant for bar admission be conditionally admitted for a three-year period. The applicant must provide quarterly reports of his steps to establish financial responsibility throughout the period of the conditional admission...

Opinion Not Defamatory

Posted on May 12, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department affirmed an order dismissing a complaint alleging defamation brought by the former office manager of a law firm. The statements at issue were made to the former employee's insurance company...

No CLE, No License To Practice

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted a proposed consent disposition and suspended an attorney for 18 months. The attorney had been transferred to inactive status in 2000 for failure to comply with continuing legal education obligations and failure to comply with...

Buying Drugs From Client Leads To Disbarment

Posted on May 11, 2008
The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred an attorney based on findings of multiple disciplinary rule violations, which stemmed from his purchase of marijuana from a client on 10-15 occasions. The conduct was found to have involved a conflict of interest and...

Expert Testimony Required

Posted on May 09, 2008
The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim brought by a convicted defendant against his retained counsel. The client was arrested driving a truck that contained more than 3000 pounds of marijuana. He denied knowledge of...

Conviction Reversed As Result Of Improper Argument

Posted on May 09, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department vacated a criminal conviction for what it characterized as egregious misconduct by the prosecutor in closing argument: A reading of the excerpted text from the People's summation clearly illustrates that...

Relation Back

Posted on May 09, 2008
A legal malpractice case was filed against a firm that had defended a worker's comp case on behalf of an insurance company. An amernded complaint was filed and served that substituted the insurance company as party plaintiff based on a...

Choice Of Disciplinary Law

Posted on May 09, 2008
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has proposed amendments to its Rule 8.5, governing choice of law in the application of rules of professional conduct. Noting that there is no completely satisfactory solution to choice of ethics law so long as...

Proposed Sanction Deemed Insufficient

Posted on May 09, 2008
The Iowa Supreme Court rejected the proposed six-month suspension recommended by its Grievance Commission and imposed a two-year suspension for neglect, failure to provide an accounting and return personal papers of a client and failure to cooperate with the isciplinary...

Threat Of Litigation Not A Criminal Offense

Posted on May 09, 2008
In an appeal of a conviction for extortion, the Maryland Court of Appeals held a threat to pursue a legal action unless a settlement payment is made does not constitute extortion by wrongful threat of economic harm. The court's summary...

Unwanted Contact Leads To Disbarment

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Kansas Supreme Court accepted an attorney's license surrender and ordered disbarment. The Court briefly summarized the pending charges as follows: At the time the respondent surrendered his license, review was pending before the Kansas Supreme Court on the final...

Taking Unearned Fees Leads To Criminal Conviction

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Illinois ARDC has filed a complaint alleging that an attorney had accepted fees in five matters when he was aware of a recommendation of a two-year suspension and a pending petition for interim suspension. He failed to perform the...

Varmint Hunt Turns Dangerous

Posted on May 08, 2008
Not a legal profession case, but of interest to torts profs is a decision issued yesterday by the South Dakota Supreme Court. A rifle had been left in an automobile after a day of hunting for "varmints such as coyote...

Second Chance

Posted on May 08, 2008
An attorney who had been placed on disciplinary probation was found to have violated the probation terms in several respects. The sanction? A sixty-day suspension. However, if the lawyer provides a current address within 14 days, the suspension will be...

Excessive Fee Allegations

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Illinois ARDC recently filed charges that allege that an attorney had claimed excessive fees and breached his fiduciary duties by charging an estate valued at approximately $1.4 million over $212,000 in fees. He also is alleged to have violated...

Excessive Sanctions Overturned

Posted on May 08, 2008
The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that sanctions were improperly imposed against an attorney who had violated confidentiality provisions of the Mediation Act by disclosing protected information in a pleading. The court concluded: The passenger's counsel did not disclose the settlement...

Judges Can Be Parents Too

Posted on May 08, 2008
A part-time judge may properly participate in a parent's group organized to express concern about the administration of a test to school children, one of whom is the judge's child. The South Carolina Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct...

DC Judge Suing Over Lost Job After His Infamous 67.3M Dry Cleaning Suit

Posted on May 07, 2008
Roy Pearson's latest lawsuit story is on several blogs, but the best reader comment I have seen is on Overlawyered, which this morning reported the million dollar employment suit. The reader Tom T. asks, "Only $1 million? Doesn't that mean...

No Conflict

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Arkansas Supreme Court has held that an attorney who serves as a prosecutor is not disqualified from representing a parent in a proceeding to change child custody when criminal charges are brought against the other parent's current spouse: "...disqualification...

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