Ethics

Article.  We've seen a lot of controversies surrounding law school clinics, which as far as I can tell have won the recent battles.  Walter Olson, from Overlawyered, has a new book coming out soon, "Schools for Misrule," which I think will have some criticism of the clinics.  Abstract of Babich's article:

This article is about the risk of retaliation that is inherent in a clinic?s decision to help clients express views that influential members of society find controversial. The article examines a series of issues related to clinicians? management of this risk, including (1) whether cases that offend university donors or other powerful defendants create ethical conflicts for clinics, (2) whether clinicians should consider potential impacts on their home institutions when selecting cases, (3) whether clinicians and administrators of educational institutions should share information about case selection in an effort to manage risk; (4) whether clinics may be appropriately evaluated by the extent to which they a) represent only the poor, b) preserve spotless ethical records, or c) represent clients whose claims are worthy of vindication; and (5) whether law schools should limit clinical offerings to subject areas that are relatively unlikely to annoy society?s movers and shakers. The article suggests resolutions to each of these issues, offers advice about clinicians? best tools for managing controversy and urges law school clinics - and the institutions that house them - to live by their values.

[posted by John Steele]