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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

The One And Only

Posted on March 04, 2011
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has imposed a year and a day suspension of an attorney who, save for the case at issue, had never engaged in the active practice of law. The attorney was admitted in 1995. The misconduct involved...

Disbarred Over $1,100

Posted on March 04, 2011
From the standpoint of attorney discipline, the most important rule is Rule 1.15. This truth is revealed today in a decision of the Maryland Court of Appeals. Failure to perform paid-for services led the attorney down a path to the...

Cover Up Worse Than Crimes

Posted on March 04, 2011
The Nebraska Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney 2002 law graduate. The court described his background: [The attorney] graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in May 2002. [He] worked for a University of Nebraska office of research...

Sex With Clients Draws Suspension, Not Probation

Posted on March 03, 2011
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed findings of misconduct where a defense attorney engaged in sexual relationships with two client. However, the court rejected the referee's proposed probation in favor of a one-year "rehabilitative suspension." The attorney was admitted in 2006...

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Former Chief Drug Prosecutor Will Become Inmate

Posted on March 03, 2011
DetroitNews.com has a story today about a former Wayne County chief drug prosecutor's guilty plea to a charge of misconduct in office: [The former prosecutor], [a] Wayne County Circuit Judge...and two Inkster police officers were accused of illegally hiding the...

The Handyman's Daughter

Posted on March 03, 2011
One of the most disturbing trends I have seen is reflected in disciplinary charges recently brought by the Illinois Administrator. The complaint (which involves at yet unproven allegations) tells a story that, if proven, reflects shame on the legal profession...

Pennsylvania Discipline Highlights

Posted on March 03, 2011
The fine web page of the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board has a post describing the most significant 2010 disciplinary cases. The criteria for selection: Each January we review the disciplinary cases decided by the Pennsylvania disciplinary system in the past year...

Hillman on Law Firm Risk Management in an Era of Breakups and Lawyer Mobility

Posted on March 03, 2011
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Robert Hillman (UC Davis) has posted "Law Firm Risk Management in an Era of Breakups and Lawyer Mobility: Limitations and Opportunities" on SSRN. Here is the abstract: To say that law firms and lawyers are restricted...

Defense Attorney Arranges Drug Buy To "Impeach" Informant; Criminal Conviction Affirmed

Posted on March 02, 2011
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a criminal conviction for attempted possession of marijuana by a criminal defense attorney who had claimed his actions were legally justified in defense of a client. It is quite a tale. The attorney...

If I Had A Hammer

Posted on March 02, 2011
From the March 2011 edition of the California Bar Journal: [An attorney] was suspended for three years, stayed, placed on four years of probation with an 18-month actual suspension and he was ordered to prove his rehabilitation, take the MPRE...

A Period Of Suspension Proposed

Posted on March 01, 2011
The Illinois Review Board has recommended a suspension of five months and a professionalism course for, among other things, misconduct by the attorney who represented the plaintiff in an employment discrimination case. When opposing counsel raised an issue of possible...

Nothing Personal

Posted on March 01, 2011
The Tennessee Supreme Court has this summary of a recent decision: John Jay Hooker has filed a motion requesting this Court (1) to set aside its June 21, 2010 order directing the Clerk of the Appellate Courts to decline to...

Insurance Coverage Law Specialty Proposed

Posted on March 01, 2011
From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Ohio will accept public comment until March 29 on a new field of law area of specialization: insurance coverage law. Gov. Bar R. XIV, Section 2(C)(1)(a) through...

Thy Brother's (Book)Keeper

Posted on February 28, 2011
In a defamation action brought against an attorney who had defended a criminal matter against an embezzling former law firm employee, the New York Appellate Division dismissed claims against a third-party defendant but allowed the defense that the statements at...

Internet Credit Counseling Course Taken By Attorney, Not Client

Posted on February 28, 2011
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department has imposed reciprocal discipline based on a sanction of a federal bankruptcy court. The court describes the facts: By Stipulation and Order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the...

God's Command And Jury instructions

Posted on February 28, 2011
The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the conviction of a defendant convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend. The court concluded that the jury instructions on the insanity defense require a new trial: The judge's instructions on the insanity defense did...

Former Federal Judge Stripped Of Georgia License

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Georgia Supreme Court has accepted the resignation of a federal judge who pled guilty to a number of drug offenses. The Times Herald had this report on the charges: [The judge], 67, was arrested Friday shortly after paying an...

"Unique And Crucial Position"

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Georgia Supreme Court has disbarred a former superior court judge who pled guilty to honest services fraud conspiracy in federal court. He had served as a judge for 27 years. The court rejected a special master's recommendation of a...

Repeat Offender

Posted on February 28, 2011
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended an attorney for two years for practicing while serving a six-month suspension. The reason for the prior suspension? He had practiced law while suspended for failure to comply with CLE obligations. This matter involved practice...

Reprimand For Rape Shield Law Violation

Posted on February 27, 2011
The Vermont Professional Responsibility Board has publicly reprimanded an attorney admitted in 2005. The attorney represented a criminal defendant through a contract with the public defender. The case involved charges of aggravated sexual assault and domestic assault...

No Suspension For Escrow Account Violations

Posted on February 25, 2011
The South Carolina Supreme Court has imposed a public reprimand with terms on an attorney for failure to properly administer his escrow account. The facts: Until 2006, respondent's secretary conducted monthly reconciliations of his trust account. In 2006, the secretary...

Lawyer Guardian Suspended

Posted on February 24, 2011
The web page of the Ohio supreme Court reports: The Supreme Court of Ohio has suspended the license of [a] Cleveland attorney...for two years, with the final 18 months of that term stayed on conditions, for mishandling and misappropriating funds...

Failure To Continue Case Reversible Error

Posted on February 24, 2011
The Maryland Court of Appeals has held that a trial court committed reversible error in a medical malpractice case by refusing to grant a continuance sought for a religious observation that had been sought by the plaintiff and his counsel....

Attorney Refunds Fees After Sex With Client

Posted on February 24, 2011
The Indiana Supreme Court has imposed a 30-day suspension of an attorney who had a sexual relationship with a client who he represented in a dissolution matter. After the sexual relationship began, the attorney refunded the fees paid by the...

Permanent Disbarment Sought For Former Assistant City And District Attorney

Posted on February 24, 2011
The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has recommended the permanent disbarment of a former New Orleans assistant city and district attorney convicted in federal court of "misusing his formal official positions...to commit sexual assaults and rapes of young women in the...

A Flawless But Unethical Plan

Posted on February 24, 2011
A Louisiana Hearing Committee has recommended a fully-stayed suspension of an attorney who had provided legal assistance to impeached federal judge Thomas Porteous and his spouse. After failed attempts to achieve a non-bankruptcy workout for debt problems, the attorney advised...

You Wish!!!

Posted on February 23, 2011
A majority (the two attorneys) of a Louisiana Hearing Committee has recommended a fully-deferred three month suspension of an attorney who sued a number of law firms who had represented his client in connection with litigation in federal court that...

Judge Reprimand For improperly Issued Subpoenas

Posted on February 23, 2011
The Mississippi Supreme Court has approved the proposed public reprimand of a chancery court district chancellor who appointed a youth court public defender. After news of the appointment was released to the media, the judge asked members of the county...

Traffic Accident Leads To Indefinite Suspension

Posted on February 23, 2011
From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Ohio today indefinitely suspended the law license of [a] Columbus attorney...for professional misconduct arising from her indictment for possession of cocaine and heroin and admitted addictions to...

Court Clerk Disbarred

Posted on February 22, 2011
The South Carolina Supreme Court has disbarred a former county court clerk as a result of a criminal conviction: On July 30, 2009, while respondent was the Beaufort County Clerk of Court, she was indicted and charged with writing checks...

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