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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

Another Chance To Claim Malpractice

Posted on March 16, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court held that a legal malpractice suit was not "precluded by disposition of earlier lawsuits or otherwise barred by the entire controversy doctrine." The plaintiffs had sued the attorneys for the estate of their father. The...

A Single Censure

Posted on March 15, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court censured an attorney who had mishandled two retained cases. The court followed the recommendation of its Disciplinary Review Board, which noted: In this case, we have weighed the fact that respondent has no history of...

PTSD Mitigation

Posted on March 15, 2011
The Vermont Professional Responsibility Board has admonished an attorney for lack of diligence in a bankruptcy matter, failure to communicate with the client and failure to respond to the ensuing bar complaint. The board found significant mitigation: Respondent suffers from...

Prosecutor Goaded Defense To Seek Mistrial, Double Jeopardy Bars Retrial

Posted on March 15, 2011
The South Carolina Supreme Court reversed a murder conviction, concluding that the prosecutor had "goaded" defense counsel into seeking a mistrial and then securing the conviction at a second trial. The court concluded that the second trial was barred by...

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Unmanageable

Posted on March 15, 2011
The Illinois Review Board has proposed a suspension of two years and until further order ("UFO") of an attorney with a record of prior discipline. The board on sanction: Respondent?s failure to resolve the practice management problems that have led...

Lacking Skills Training

Posted on March 14, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court reprimanded an attorney who had bounced an escrow check. The attorney made an accounting error when closing the account. He promptly restored the funds to make the check good. The District Ethics Committee found that...

Nearly Disbarred

Posted on March 14, 2011
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the proposed sanction of disbarment by its Disciplinary Board and imposed a five-year suspension of an attorney admitted in 1984. The attorney was transferred to inactive status in 1996 for failure to complete CLE obligations...

Calling Jackie Chiles

Posted on March 14, 2011
A Starbucks and the owner of its premises won summary dismissal of a personal injury claim by an infant plaintiff whose injuries allegedly occurred in the following circumstances: The infant plaintiff allegedly sustained injuries when a cup of hot tea...

Recovery Leads To Reinstatement

Posted on March 14, 2011
The Colorado Hearing Board granted the reinstatement petition of an attorney disbarred in 2002 for, among other things, knowing conversion of client and third-party funds. The attorney's downfall was his addiction to alcohol. As a result, "his personal and professional...

Crimes Lead To Suspension

Posted on March 14, 2011
A summary of a recent disciplinary sanction from the web page of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers: ...the respondent, was admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth on January 11, 1994. On December 8, 2006, the respondent used a...

Name on Loan To Debt Collection Agency, Attorney Pays Price

Posted on March 14, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court imposed a one-year suspension of an attorney "who did not maintain a bona fide attorney-client relationship with [a debt] collection agency, but rather merely loaned his name to it, in exchange for a monthly payment."...

Future Ed 3 | NYLS, April 15-16

Posted on March 13, 2011
[Notice from Elizabeth Chambliss at NYLS] ???????Help Invent the Future of Legal Education We started our contest of ideas at New York Law School in April, 2010. Participants presented thirty proposals at Harvard Law School in October, 2010. Now they?re...

Disbarred For Tax Shelter Advice

Posted on March 12, 2011
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department held that a federal conviction for conspiracy to defraud the IRS and evade taxes is "essentially similar" to a state felony and thus results in automatic disbarment. The court's analysis:...

Data on the "Employed at Graduation" U.S. News Rankings Input

Posted on March 11, 2011
By Bill Henderson & Andrew Morriss Yesterday, Bob Morse of U.S. News published a blog post in which he signaled a change in the law school rankings methodology, specifically with regard to employment. The prevailing view on the law school...

Third Time's A Censure (Not A Charm)

Posted on March 11, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court has censured an attorney admitted in 1984 for misconduct in a single case. The attorney engaged in gross neglect and failed to reduce the fee agreement to writing. Notably, the attorney has twice been reprimanded...

Louisiana Lightning

Posted on March 10, 2011
A Louisiana Hearing Committee has proposed a suspension of a year and a day for an attorney for misconduct unrelated to the practice of law. The attorney was arrested in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2006 on charges of drunk driving, possession...

Running As Rehabilitation

Posted on March 10, 2011
A North Carolina attorney who was disbarred in 1996 has filed a petition for reinstatement. Among the averments: Petitioner, in preparation to resume the responsibilities of a public citizen/licensed attorney, has sought to cultivate his knowledge of the law beyond...

Judging With The Stars

Posted on March 10, 2011
A recent opinion from the South Carolina Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct: OPINION NO. 1 - 2011 RE: Propriety of a part-time judge?s participation as a ?Celebrity Judge? at a fund-raiser. FACTS A part-time judge inquires into the propriety....

Hearing Held Without Accused Attorney Results In Proposed Suspension

Posted on March 10, 2011
An Illinois Hearing Board has recommended a suspension of six months and until further order in a matter involving an attorney's false statements to a tribunal in a post-dissolution of marriage proceeding. The board explained its reasoning: In this case...

Sham Or Real Marriage?

Posted on March 09, 2011
A story posted today at SFGate.com describes a recent California disciplinary action: A veteran Pacifica attorney is facing disbarment for allegedly duping an 85-year-old client into giving her $339,000, entering into a sham marriage with him and ignoring his will...

A Priest And An Attorney

Posted on March 09, 2011
The web page of the Ohio Supreme Court reports: The Supreme Court of Ohio has indefinitely suspended the law license of [an] Avon attorney...for violations of state disciplinary rules arising from conduct that resulted in his convictions on federal felony...

A Kidney For Your Wife

Posted on March 09, 2011
The Mississippi Court of Appeals has held that a covenant not to be compete was reasonable and enforceable, reversing the judgment of the lower court. The circumstances of the case are a bit unusual, if not unique. The employee went...

The Whole Neighborhood Is Watching

Posted on March 09, 2011
An opinion from the South Carolina Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct: OPINION NO. 1 - 2011 RE: Propriety of a Magistrate Court Judge speaking at a Neighborhood Watch meeting. FACTS A Magistrate Court Judge has been asked to...

The Sting

Posted on March 08, 2011
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department imposed a three month suspension of an attorney convicted of misdemeanor solicitation of legal business in violation of New York law. The facts of the offense: This conviction arose out...

The Pagans Of Atlantic Beach

Posted on March 08, 2011
The South Carolina Supreme Court has imposed a 90 day definite suspension for ethics violations predicated on the following facts: In 2004, Respondent represented the Atlantic Beach Christian Methodist Episcopal Church("Church") in a legal action it filed against the Town...

On The Carpet

Posted on March 08, 2011
The web page page of the Ohio Supreme Court reports the interim suspension of a recently convicvted attorney. Floordaily has the story: The former house attorney for Cincinnati-based Buddy's Carpet was sentenced last week to 18 months in federal prison...

Misappropriation = Disbarment

Posted on March 07, 2011
An attorney who had misappropriated funds entrusted by clients was disbarred by the New Jersey Supreme Court. The attorney had received a series of eight checks from the client for the purpose of completing the client's purchase of two businesses;...

Enough Alleged

Posted on March 04, 2011
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department has held that the allegations of legal malpractice in an amended complaint were sufficient to withstand a motion to dismissat an early stage of the proceedings: The amended complaint alleges...

First Appellate Brief Deemed "As Brazen A Piece Of Misrepresentation As We Have Ever Seen"

Posted on March 04, 2011
A recent public reprimand is summarized on the web page of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers: Beginning in 2006, the respondent represented a window company in litigation with a homeowner concerning the installation of replacement windows. After a district...

Home Alone With The Plants

Posted on March 04, 2011
The Colorado Hearing Board has imposed a six-month suspension of a non-practicing attorney for possession of a controlled substance. The circumstances that led to the arrest and felony charges are set forth in the order imposing sanctions: At the sanctions...

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