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Academic

Legal Profession Blog

Cover legal ethics, bar discipline, business practice, the tension between the bar and the academy, ethical theory, and comparative legal professions.
By Alan Childress, Mike Frisch, and Jeff Lipshaw

Post Frequency: 40.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:56:26

Bigamy Suspension

Posted on February 03, 2010
From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of Ohio today imposed a six month suspension against the law license of [a]Youngstown attorney...for falsely stating on a North Carolina marriage license application that he had never...

And The Winner Is...

Posted on February 02, 2010
The web page of the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board has a newly-posted feature, an attorney E Newsletter that in the January 2010 edition discusses highlights in bar discipline for 2009: In this issue we present our second annual survey of the...

Consent Leads To Reciprocal Disbarment

Posted on February 02, 2010
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department imposed the reciprocal discipline of disbarment based on the attorney's New Jersey consent to disbarment. The court rejected the following plea: ...the respondent submitted a statement, in which he contended...

Arresting Development

Posted on February 02, 2010
The Ohio Supreme Court today issued an arrest warrant for an attorney who had been publicly reprimanded in 2006 and indefinitely suspended in 2009. The court's order notes that he was ordered to appear in person and failed to do...

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Lawyer-Juror Misconduct Findings Upheld

Posted on February 01, 2010
An update on a high-profile bar discipline case from the California Bar Journal's February 2010 web page: Francis Thomas Fahy was disbarred July 21, 2009, and was ordered to comply with rule 9.20. Fahy appealed a State Bar Court hearing...

Fee Suit Draws Counterclaim

Posted on February 01, 2010
The dangers in suing a client for legal fees are manifest in a recent decision of the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department. The appeal of the law firm plaintiff was dismissed: The plaintiff is a law...

Court Clerk Held In Contempt

Posted on February 01, 2010
From the web page of the Tennessee Supreme Court comes a summary of a recent decision of the Court of Appeals: This appeal involves a finding of civil contempt against a court clerk. Three juvenile court referees entered separate orders...

Ineffective Representation Of Juvenile Client

Posted on February 01, 2010
The Supreme Court of Washington vacated the conviction of a juvenile who had pled guilty to first degree sexual molestation at the age of twelve. The court found that the appointed public defender had rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. The...

"Who Dat" Say They Gonna Own This Putative Trademark Two-Word Question?

Posted on January 31, 2010
Posted by Alan Childress And send cease and desist letters to Mom & Pop tshirt shops who for years have been selling clothing asking that two-word question? Why, the NFL of course. And the timing seems to be now because...

No Room At The Judge's Home

Posted on January 31, 2010
A judge may not rent a room to a non-related person who is subject to community control, according to a recent opinion of the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. The committee expressed the following concerns: Discussion of the issue requires...

Outside Traditional Boundaries

Posted on January 30, 2010
The Rhode Island Supreme Court granted the application of James Sokolove to register Sokolove Law LLC to practice law as a Rhode Island limited liability entity pursuant to rules governing admission to practice. The court noted that it had never...

No Discipline For Single Impaired Driving Conviction

Posted on January 30, 2010
An attorney who was convicted of a single incident of impaired driving where no conditions regarding alcohol treatment were imposed is not subject to professional discipline, according to a recent decision of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. The board rejected...

A Multitude Of Services Does Not Equal Neglect

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board affirmed a hearing panel''s determination that no misconduct was proven in a case where the attorney allegedly failed to file a motion for relief from judgment on behalf of an incarcerated client. The board recounts...

License Annulled

Posted on January 29, 2010
The West Virginia Supreme Court annulled the license of an attorney for misconduct in handling settlement proceeds on behalf of a now-deceased client. The complaint was filed by the deceased client's daughter and executrix of the estate. The attorney received...

Privilege Protects Statements To Pardon Board

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Nebraska Supreme Court has affirmed the dismissal of a libel per se claim on grounds of absolute privilege. The complaint was filed by an attorney licensed in California. The attorney represents clients in Florida matters on a pro hac...

Conflicts Charge

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging that the attorney obtained pro bono employment under circumstances that amounted to a conflict of interest. As we have seen in the past, Illinois sets out the alleged misconduct in highly-specific detail:...

Attorney Did Not Violate Sex With Client Rule: Never Met Client

Posted on January 29, 2010
The West Virginia Supreme Court imposed a reprimand with two years probation and other conditions in a disciplinary matter involving two complaints. One matter involved allegations of neglect and failure to communicate with a prison inmate client. The attorney had...

From The Senate To The Slammer

Posted on January 28, 2010
The web page of the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reports the recent interim suspension of a former state senator as a result of a criminal conviction. Details about the conviction and related criminal cases may be found...

New Orleans Never Needs An Excuse To Party

Posted on January 28, 2010
Posted by Alan Childress The New Orleans Saints are going to the Superbowl on February 7. Jury trial is scheduled for February 1. It is basically the irresistible force versus the utterly movable object. As my colleague Tania Tetlow wrote...

Flawed Strategy Not Unethical (Over A Dissent)

Posted on January 28, 2010
The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed disciplinary charges against an attorney accused of failure to properly withdraw from representation. The court's web page reports: In a 6-1 per curiam opinion, the Court concluded that [the attorney's] filing of a wrongful death...

Reinstatement Denial Not Punishment

Posted on January 28, 2010
An attorney who had his licensed revoked in 1985 sought reinstatement to the Michigan Bar. The Attorney Discipline Board affirmed a hearing panel determination that the reinstatement criteria had not been met, noting that the petitioner had two additional felony...

The Yankees Win!!!

Posted on January 28, 2010
From the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department comes this decision: Defendant [New York Yankees Partnership] established prima facie entitlement to summary dismissal by submitting evidence that it had no notice of the condition on the stadium's...

Under Oath, Under The Influence

Posted on January 28, 2010
The Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved a 120 day consent suspension of an attorney. The attorney admitted that he had failed to provide competent representation to a criminal client. To make matters worse, the attorney further admitted that he had...

Defense Attorney Wears a Wire and Meets with Clients. Fed Prosecutor Apparently Wired Him.

Posted on January 27, 2010
Posted by Alan Childress Wow. I missed this harrowing story a few weeks ago, out of Nebraska, but -- thanks to my ethics student Jeff Malfatti -- here it is (in a newsy and interesting article by Todd Cooper of...

Too Close To Represent

Posted on January 27, 2010
A Colorado hearing board concluded that a lawyer engaged in litigation misconduct on behalf of a client with whom he had an "intimate, albeit non-sexual, relationship." The underlying case involved a divorce where the issues were division of property and...

Welcome to the Blogosphere: Michigan State Bar Blog

Posted on January 27, 2010
Posted by Alan Childress Just opened and already clever, the blog of the state bar of Michigan offers "comment, news and issues of interest to Michigan lawyers" plus really to many of us not so blessed. Why blog when you...

Asides on The New Apple iPad

Posted on January 27, 2010
Posted by Alan Childress A reader comment about this on the Houston Chronicle site: "Yao Ming wants his iPhone back." And a commenter at the Huffington Post worries that the upgraded version will be named the Max iPad. But seriously...

Conditional Admission Did Not Prevent Alcohol Abuse

Posted on January 26, 2010
An Arizona hearing officer has recommended a six-month suspension and probation for two years in a matter involving an attorney who was conditionally admitted to practice in May 2008. The attorney had entered the Bar's assistance program prior to admission...

Litigant, Blame Thyself

Posted on January 26, 2010
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department has affirmed the dismissal of a series of legal malpractice claims: The doctrine of collateral estoppel bars this malpractice action by plaintiff against the four attorneys who successively represented him...

"After Careful Review..."

Posted on January 26, 2010
From the web page of the Tennessee Supreme Court: In this direct appeal of a lawyer disciplinary proceeding involving eight separate complaints, we must determine whether the trial court correctly affirmed the hearing panel?s finding that [an] attorney...

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