Ethics

The ABA is about to undertake its first comprehensive review of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct since the Ethics 2000 Commission.  The new effort, which is called the Ethics 20/20 Commission, will focus on issues related to globalization, including whether to allow multidisciplinary practice.  (The ABA had endorsed MDP earlier this decade, but the proposal faced considerable political opposition.) 

Here is a brief description of the Commission's work, which appeared in the August issue of the ABA Magazine:

ABA President-elect Carolyn B. Lamm recently announced creation of an Ethics 20/20 Commission. The name recalls the Ethics 2000 Commission that conducted a full review of the Model Rules, but Lamm says the new commission will have an even broader mission.

While the 20/20 commission will review the Model Rules, Lamm says she wants it to also look at the larger issue of how the U.S. legal profession is regulated in the context of globalization. That means, she says, the commission should consider developments at the state level, regulatory activities of the federal government, the impact of international agreements like GATS (the General Agreement on Trade in Services), and changes in how other countries govern their lawyers.

The Commission sounds like big news for the legal ethics world, so we'll try to keep you posted on future developments.