Ethics

I do a lot of work related to patent law, and have authored amicus briefs on patent issues (some pure, some quasi-ethical), and it is fairly common for patent professors and organizations to file amicus briefs with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to do so.

I'm not aware of a similar practice in the ethics area; I know people do experting, but I don't see professors filing briefs on key cases as friends of the court.

Am I just unaware of the practice?  Any explanation(s) for the differences between patent cases and disqualification/malpractice?

Just pondered this, and was curious...