Legal Ethics Forum: Ethics

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Ethics Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Ethics

Legal Ethics Forum

Covering Legal Ethics

Post Frequency: 11.2/day

Last Entry: August 14, 2020 at 13:23:48

Lawyer involved in murders of witnesses?

Posted on November 23, 2009
WSJ law blog has a surreal story about allegations against a criminal defense lawyer.

Tony Mauro: "Do Defendants Get Enough Warning About a Guilty Plea's Consequences?"

Posted on November 23, 2009
Fascinating article here, about the problem of advising criminal defendants of all the adverse consequences of pleading guilty. It looks as if the ABA and other groups will be moving toward more uniform standards.

Extensive recusals within DOJ related to prior legal work for detainees

Posted on November 23, 2009
The issue of recusals within the DOJ is being pushed in some quarters as a hot political issue. From reading the editorial at the Washington Times, a recent blog entry, and an older account from American Lawyer media, it seems...

Lawyer (and alleged ponzi schemer) targeted people who invested in law suits

Posted on November 23, 2009
Story here. Key graf: Fort Lauderdale, Fla., law firm leader Scott Rothstein would piggyback on actual lawsuits, including one tawdry case his firm was handling, to solicit investors in an alleged Ponzi scheme, according to a lawsuit by investors claiming...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Plaintiffs lawyer posts Youtube video about new suit; gets sued for defamation; moves to strike defamation suit under SLAPP law

Posted on November 23, 2009
Story here. Youtube video here.

NY news that you'd expect to hear coming out of Baltimore or Chicago

Posted on November 19, 2009
According to Point of Law, "The ethics counsel to the New York state senate told senators to hand-deliver ethics filings, rather than mailing them, to avoid coverage under the federal mail fraud statute." (Hmm, what's the 1.2(d) analysis on that?)

ABA's "Ethics 20/20 Commission" announces Preliminary Issues Outline, seeks feedback.

Posted on November 19, 2009
Outline here. Commission website here. Get your comments in by December 31, 2009. The three top-level issues in the preliminary list are: Issues that arise because US lawyers are regulated by [US] states but work increasingly across state and international...

Update on file filching deputy: Judge gives deputy a chance to apologize, avoid jail

Posted on November 19, 2009
The court's order is here. But, according to this story, no apology may be forthcoming.

Conflicts of interest within DOJ for lawyers who formerly represented detainees?ainees now in DOJ?

Posted on November 19, 2009
This op-ed asks whether there are conflicts of interest within the DOJ for lawyers who formerly worked for detainees. Reading between the lines, it appears that recusals within the DOJ have been made on a case-by-case basis. The GOP senators...

Ron Rotunda: "The Judicial Transparency, Judicial Ethics, and A Judicial Solution: An Inspector General for The Courts"

Posted on November 18, 2009
Interesting idea; article here. Abstract:Many federal judges routinely fear criticism, but that fear is unwarranted. The public is rightly concerned that the procedure to investigate and discipline problem-judges is flawed, particularly in a few high-profile cases discussed in this article...

I'll Believe This When I See It

Posted on November 18, 2009
Testifying before Congress today, Attorney General Eric Holder said the report of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility on the torture memos is "in its last stages" and should be released by the end of the month. As those...

Disciplined prosecutor's appeal may result in disbarment

Posted on November 18, 2009
In the much-followed case of the prosecution of Santa Clara County prosecutor Ben Field, Field's appellate argument didn't go well. Two of the panel members questioned why Field hadn't been disbarred.

The global law firm: the case of Singapore

Posted on November 17, 2009
I'm interested in exploring how the globalization of the legal profession affects the level of interpersonal trust in the provision of legal services. Jay Krishnan's new paper, The Joint Law Venture: A Pilot Study, looks like a must-read for anyone...

Lynne Stewart conviction upheld

Posted on November 17, 2009
More analysis later. Opinion here. Here's my original post regarding Stewart. Links to key parts of the trial. As you read commentary about whether her lawyering should be considered criminal conduct, please bear in mind that the crux of the...

Odds and ends (November 17, 2009)

Posted on November 17, 2009
Chevron has filed a malicious prosecution claim against the lawyer who brought an environmental tort claim against Chevron. . . . . The former GC of Bank of America discusses his termination. . . . . Yet another case of...

California ready to approve new rules, including advance waivers, after some tinkering?

Posted on November 17, 2009
Unfortunately the story is behind a reg wall, but that's the gist of Mike McKee's article. (Disclaimer: I'm not neutral on the issue of advance waivers and I'm quoted in the article.) Here's a fair use snippet from the article:...

"Erin Brokovich" lawyers face 9th Circuit disciplinary hearing

Posted on November 15, 2009
Story here.

Patricia Salkin: "2009 Ethical Considerations in Land Use"

Posted on November 15, 2009
Patricia Salkin summarizes recent conflicts cases arising in law use practice.

Susan Saab Fortney: "Is it Educational Malpractice Not to Teach Comparative Legal Ethics?"

Posted on November 15, 2009
A little while ago, after teaching legal ethics in Slovenia, Susan Saab Fortney wrote this short piece, which was recently uploaded to SSRN, about teaching comparative legal ethics. It might usefully be read in conjunction with Laurel Terry's piece, "A...

Margaret Tarkington on free speech to impugn judicial integrity

Posted on November 15, 2009
Margaret Tarkington on, "A Free Speech Right to Impugn Judicial Integrity in Court Proceedings." Abstract: Throughout the United States, state and federal courts discipline and sanction attorneys who make disparaging remarks about the judiciary and thereby impugn judicial integrity...

The future of Big Law School?

Posted on November 14, 2009
The topic has been exploding in the blawgosphere. Larry Ribstein's paper inspired Erik Gerding's post, which prompted a reply by Ribstein and a post by the WSJ blog, and a reply by Gerding, along with a post by Rick Garnett...

Justice Alito downplays impact of ABA standards for capital defense function

Posted on November 13, 2009
Interesting incident, which raises the issue of the degree to which ABA standards are binding, are meant to spur improvements, and/or are just aspirational goals.

from other sites (Nov 13, 2009)

Posted on November 13, 2009
At the Ethical Quandary, news of a case upholding attorney client privilege for emails across a company account. I think that some cases might reach the opposite result, so it's a hot issue generally. . . . . Our very...

Choice of law regarding ethics and liability to non-clients was key to dismissal of suit against Bryan Cave

Posted on September 30, 2009
A New Jersey court was the wrong place for a non-client plaintiff to sue Bryan Cave for its representation of what turned out to be a ponzi scheme, a New Jersey appellate court held. The forum was inconvenient because the...

Mary Radford: "Ethical Challenges in Representing Families in Family Limited Partnerships"

Posted on September 30, 2009
This new article by Mary Radford looks at common ethics issues arising in classic "Main Street" practice, where the lawyer may end up represented multiple family members and family businesses. The artice is quite useful if you teach PR, you...

AmLaw's Global 100 published

Posted on September 30, 2009
Published today. Eighteen firms, listed below, had revenue over $1 billion (ranging from $2.4 to $1 billion). (1) Linklaters (2) Freshfields (3) Clifford Chance (4) Skadden (5) Baker (6) Allen (7) Latham (8) Jones Day (9) Sidley (10) White &...

Ninth Circuit rules in Ruehle: Ruehle loses; trial court reversed; Irell vindicated; matter remanded.

Posted on September 30, 2009
Decision here. No doubt, more to come from David, Brad, Steve, and others about this important case. Upon a lightning-quick skim, it seems that in footnote 7 the court finessed the issue that had us so agitated: whether Bevil and...

Polanski affair: WSJ says that Marcia Clark says that prosecutor says he lied about improper ex parte contacts?

Posted on September 30, 2009
Lurking behind the Polanski affair has been an ethics issue: the notion that a prosecutor may have used improper ex parte contacts to poison the judge's attitude toward Polanski -- causing Polanski to flee the US. I will let the...

Former in-house lawyer for Toyota gets referred to state bar for revealing client confidences

Posted on September 28, 2009
Unfortunately, the good articles are still behind registration walls, but a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles has referred former Toyota in-house lawyer Dimitrios Biller to the state bar for violating his duty of confidentiality to Toyota, and has issued...

ABA 20/20 Commission Listserv

Posted on September 26, 2009
I just returned from the first meeting of the new 20/20 Commission, whose charge, as you may know, is to study how advances in information technology and global trade may require changes in how US lawyers are regulated (and not...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Update on AILF's Legal Action Center Visa Bulletin Litigation (Updated 7/10/07)
The following is the latest update from AILF regarding its pening ...

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center Legislative Forecast
The ILRC Forecast on Immigration ReformJudith Golub, Executive Dir...

The Christian Legal Society and "discrimation": Response to Susan
In response to Susan's post, I'm inclined to think that, yes, the ...

Stacy Scnheider Legal Commentator Apprentice

Catholic Legal Theory and life and death
Tom Berg’s question regarding the propriety or not of capital pu...