In-house counsel disapppointed in technical competencies of lawyers

Law.com has an interesting story about a corporate GC who audits the technical competencies of lawyers at outside law firms -- and finds the skill set lacking (and hence expensive to the client). (h/t: TaxProf Blog)
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 25, 2013 at 2:16 PM

IRS scandal round-up (and link to list of IRS's false statements to Congress and the public)

Tax Law Prof Blog has another round-up. FactCheck.org has a nice round-up of all the times the IRS misled or lied to Congress and to the public.
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 25, 2013 at 2:08 PM

Connecticut court reaffirms lawyers' (partial) immunity for arguments made in court

Insurance Journal. The news article says that the Connecticut court held that lawyers are immune from suits for fraud, but it appears to be a re-affirmance of the traditional rule that for most statements within the litigation proceeding, lawyers are...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 25, 2013 at 8:36 AM

ABA balancing act: new ethics opinion reconciles the Model Rules and the "Good Practice Guidance" about anti-terrorism gate-keeping

The ABA has a new opinion out, No. 463, which isn't so much an ethics opinion as an attempt to reconcile the loyalty and confidentiality provisions of the Model Rules with the 2010-issued Voluntary Good Practices Guidance for Lawyers to...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 24, 2013 at 1:43 PM

Herrick K. Lidstone Jr., "The Anatomy of a Legal Opinion"

Article. (This article could be useful for PR profs, especially if they're not familiar with opinion letter practice.) Abstract: At some point during their years of practice, most corporate or transactional lawyers will be asked to work on a legal...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 24, 2013 at 3:48 AM

W. Bradley Wendel, "Alternative Litigation Financing and Anti-Commodification Norms"

Article. Abstract: This paper considers a non-consequentialist argument raised by opponents of alternative litigation financing (sometimes called third-party litigation financing). The objection is that, apart from any effect that this method of funding might have on litigation rates, settlement incentives,...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 24, 2013 at 3:47 AM

"How protected should communications between lawyers and a firm?s in-house counsel be?"

ABA Journal looks at the pending appellate case on this topic.
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 24, 2013 at 3:30 AM

sign of the future? "9th Circ. Relieves Broke Law School Grad Of Student Debt"

He couldn't pay it back after four years of trying. Now the debt is gone.
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 24, 2013 at 12:35 AM

Matter of Lawrence: A Case With Important Professional Responsibility Issues

The First Department Appellate Division in New York today (May 23) decided Matter of Lawrence, a case that had been up to the N.Y. Court of Appeals, was then remanded for a hearing that was held before former Court of...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 10:28 PM

The Federal Government and "reporting up" and "reporting out"

From a comparative view of the IRS scandal using the legal ethics rules (altho, admittedly, the legal ethics rules don't govern for the most part), two aspects of the IRS scandal stand out: (1) the IRS's duty of candor (as...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 7:41 PM

Florida Supreme Court backs PDs on right to refuse new cases when caseload precludes diligent, competent defenses

Miami-Herald. The court did not rule that such conditions exist at this time and it remanded the matter for a factual finding on that point. Excerpts: "Third-degree felony attorneys often have as many as fifty cases set for trial in...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 6:23 PM

Stephen Bainbridge, "If Obama was CEO of a public corporation and I was the company's general counsel, would I have told him about an audit of misbehaving employees?"

Bainbridge answers "yes." I assume that people in the know did not tell the president because that was in the president's best interests. Once he knows, he's responsible. Better to wait until the IG Report was published, right? Over at...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 1:42 PM

Judge?s Response to Facebook Message Showed No Bias, According to Appeals Court

A judge in Texas appears to have handled an ethics dilemma on Facebook in textbook fashion. The judge was presiding over a criminal case involving defendant William Scott Youkers, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for assaulting his...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 12:35 PM

Ethics links about the future of the profession (May 23, 2013)

Law Technology News: Stanford is a source of innovations in the legal profession. (h/t: ABA Journal) ABA Journal: "Law firm leaders say industry shift permanent, yet don?t list value and efficiency as top concerns" Bernie Burk, at Faculty Lounge, "Proliferation...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 3:56 AM

Sara Rankin, "The Fully Formed Lawyer: Why Law Schools Should Require Public Service to Better Prepare Students for Private Practice"

Article. Abstract: It is now commonly accepted that law schools are graduating students who are under-prepared for practice in the real world. In other words, students that perform adequately in the classroom seem to struggle or suffer ? to an...
Posted on Legal Ethics Forum on May 23, 2013 at 3:45 AM

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