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

Dawn Johnsen on the proper role of the OLC

Posted on June 11, 2010
Dawn Johnsen, professor at Indiana and formerly a nominee for head of the OLC, published this op-ed about the proper role of the OLC. (h/t: Volokh) Although her rhetoric suggests that the OLC's role can be succinctly stated, my reading...

I haven't posted in a while, and

Posted on June 11, 2010
I haven't posted in a while, and am not sure this will post readably... but Texas has addressed a topic I've thought about for a long time, and argued about over the years. It's this: can public information ever be...

what's going on (June 10, 2010)

Posted on June 10, 2010
Texas has issued an ethics opinion, No. 597, saying that Texas lawyers may practice in firms that have non-Texas lawyers who from time to time practice a little law out of the Texas office. . . . . . Point...

"Legal Ethics and Moral Character": individualist assumptions?

Posted on June 10, 2010
If you haven't read Brad and Alice's new paper, Legal Ethics and Moral Character, you should. It offers a promising new angle into some of the familiar arguments about the lawyer's role, and it's an angle that warrants further exploration....

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

Legal Ethics odds and ends (June 9, 2010)

Posted on June 09, 2010
Lawyer and law professor Peter Erlinder, charged with genocide denial in Rwanda, has been denied bail. The facts are hard to determine, but it appears that his alleged crime is simply the act of advocacy on behalf of persons accused....

Susan Saab Fortney named interim dean at Texas Tech

Posted on June 09, 2010
Suan Saab Fortney, a top scholar in the legal ethics and legal malpractice fields, has been named interim dean at Texas Tech. (h/t: Faculty Lounge)

The Ethical Duty of Self-Obsolescence

Posted on June 08, 2010
I started thinking about this when I got my R card from the NYC MTA, the card that lets me travel half fare on subways and buses. R for retired, which I'm not. Or maybe it was when young women...

Patron Saints of Lawyers (with a new nomination)

Posted on June 08, 2010
John Flood nominates a new patron of lawyers, Saint David of Clementi. (Clementi headed up the so-called "Clementi Report" that led to sweeping reforms of the English legal profession.) Traditionally, the patrons of lawyers included Thomas More, Raymond of Pe�afort,...

some recent legal ethics scholarship (June 8, 2010)

Posted on June 08, 2010
Bennett Gershman, "'Hard Strikes and Foul Blows' - Berger v. United States 75 Years after". Abstract: My essay examines one of the most iconic decisions of the Supreme Court seventy five years later. Berger v. United States is the most...

legal ethics today (June 8, 2010)

Posted on June 08, 2010
A lawyer hired the judge's former firm in an attempt to get the judge recused? Sounds sanctionable, said the Ninth Circuit in Bappi Lahiri v. Universal Music. And here's an unpublished decision from the California Court of Appeal, awarding attorney's...

Florida Ethics Opinion to Address How to Discard Old Data Storage Devices

Posted on June 07, 2010
The Florida Bar's Board of Governors has asked its Professional Ethics Committee to issue an opinion on how lawyers should dispose of old hard drives and other devices that might contain confidential client information. Hopefully, the opinion will offer helpful...

David Luban responds to Alice Woolley and Brad Wendel: "How Must a Lawyer Be?"

Posted on June 07, 2010
Article here. Abstract: In Legal Ethics and Moral Character, Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. 23, Alice Woolley and W. Bradley Wendel argue that theories of legal ethics may be evaluated by examining the kind of person a lawyer must...

legal ethics in the news (June 7, 2010)

Posted on June 07, 2010
Lawyers were convicted for their role in a tax shelter fraud. . . . . . Here's a glimpse into the politics between a one-year state bar president and the longer term appointees and bureaucrats. As the article notes, the...

Ninth Circuit upholds restrictions on legal aid as applied to Legal Aid Services of Oregon

Posted on June 07, 2010
Opinion here. Update: Nice post by Steven Schwinn at Con Law Prof Blog. First four paragraphs: We must determine whether restrictions on lobbying, soliciting clients, and participating in class actions (collectively, the ?Restrictions?) that Congress has imposed on legal aid...

Nancy Rapoport & Craig Andersen, "Should a lawyer withdraw at the first indication that the client wants to lie?"

Posted on June 06, 2010
Nancy Rapoport and Craig Andersen have different takes. Mine: it depends, but be careful either way.

More on CJ Roberts' Fatuous Comment

Posted on June 05, 2010
about judges, umpires, and just calling balls and strike. This ope-ed by Paul Clemens is from today's NYT. "I'd talked on the phone to my father during the game's late innings, doubting the evidence of my own eyes. Was Galarraga...

Another example of federal regulation that might sweep in lawyers

Posted on June 05, 2010
The ABA Journal informs us that the Senate version of the financial services reform bill might apply to any lawyer who maintains a trust account. The ABA is seeking a revision to mirror the House version, which specifically excludes the...

Obama refers to BP's "lawyering up"

Posted on June 05, 2010
The way President Obama uses the phrase -- "lawyering up" -- is a little ambiguous here. He seems to refer to how quickly and fairly BP processes claims, rather than to whether there's something wrong with BP getting "lawyered up"...

The ethics of social media in the PR classroom

Posted on June 04, 2010
The professional responsibility conference rolls on in Seattle, and this morning I'm in a session dedicated to the ethical issues surrounding lawyers' use of social media. LEFers Andy and Renee have been all over these issues on this blog, and...

Public defender chokes prosecutor

Posted on June 04, 2010
Story here.

Non-lawyer Ownership: Watch Out for What Happened to the Investment Banks

Posted on June 04, 2010
The analogy is not a perfect one, but we should keep in mind what happened with the investment banks when they switched from ownership by investment bankers to ownership by shareholders. Most of the big investment banks used to be...

legal ethics news (June 4, 2010)

Posted on June 04, 2010
At the ABA's national conference in Seattle, there's been some discussion of the regulation of law firms. This announcement of a conference for managing partners in the UK shows that "compliance" schemes are far more prevalent over there. Will we...

Jim Messina's email

Posted on June 04, 2010
One thing we teach in lawyers' ethics is that performing two roles can be dangerous. Representing two clients, representing one client and the interests of one's own law firm, or any other situation where a lawyer wears two hats instead...

Romanoff: Here we Go Again

Posted on June 03, 2010
The White House last year apparently approached another Senate candidate, Andrew Romanoff of Colorado, with the possibility of a job offer in the Administration. Romanoff, like Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, did not pursue the discussions and decided to proceed with...

Debating non-lawyer ownership in Seattle

Posted on June 03, 2010
Another interesting debate in Seattle: Resolved, that Model Rule 5.4 be amended to permit lawyers to practice in law firm entities that have non-lawyer investors or owners. James Holzhauer, former chair of Mayer Brown, represented the "pro" side, and while...

Debating loyalty in Seattle

Posted on June 03, 2010
I'm live-blogging pretty-quick-blogging the annual ABA Center for Professional Responsibility conference, and the opening session is a series of debates about fundamental regulatory changes that may be coming. The first debate is over the following (hypothetical) resolution: Resolved, that Model...

legal ethics round-up (June 3, 2010)

Posted on June 03, 2010
The ABA's National Conference on Professional Responsibility is underway in Seattle. . . . . . Former federal prosecutor Steven Biskupic was cleared of any ethics charges in the Georgia Thompson affair. . . . . . White Collar Crime...

The 50th Anniversary of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is fast approaching

Posted on June 02, 2010
A news article alerted me to the upcoming 50th anniversary of publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, on July 11th. The author, Harper Lee, pursued her law degree at Alabama but didn't obtain it. (Legal ethics types will recognize the...

The one way the Sestak matter could become a crime

Posted on June 02, 2010
is for someone to lie about it. This is a point that should be obvious to most ethics lawyers, but it is not always obvious to people in public life. In my book on government ethics I discuss the "psychology...

See you in Seattle for the ABA's 36th National Conference on Professional Responsibility

Posted on June 02, 2010
Hope to see you there.

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...