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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

God Is Not A Witness

Posted on December 15, 2009
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has affirmed a conviction and death penalty in an horrific case in involving the murder of a student who had just completed her graduation requirements from the University of Oklahoma and was preparing to go home...

Unacceptable Indifference

Posted on December 15, 2009
The web page of the Ohio Supreme Court reports: The Supreme Court of Ohio today indefinitely suspended the license of [a] former Dayton attorney...currently residing in Indiana, for neglecting legal matters entrusted to him by two clients and subsequently failing...

Behind Closed Doors

Posted on December 15, 2009
The Illinois Administrator has filed a three count complaint alleging that (1) the attorney went into a judge's chambers and, out of the presence of the judge's secretary, copied the judge's calender without authority, used the copy as part of...

No Agreement To Arbitrate

Posted on December 15, 2009
An attorney was hired as "of counsel" of another attorney under a one-year employment contract on November 1, 2005. The contract authorized discharge for cause and had an arbitration clause. The employment relationship had "issues" but extended past the fixed...

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Fear and Learning - Cantering and Law School

Posted on December 15, 2009
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw As those of you who tune in for what the ABA Journal quaintly refers to as my "off-topic" posts may be aware, I decided this summer to learn English style riding (horse, that is). Let me...

Were Delays Inexcusable?

Posted on December 15, 2009
The New York Court of Appeals modified the determination of the Commission on Judicial Conduct that had sanctioned a judge for delays in moving matters. The court here rejected the judge's contention that the commission "lacks jurisdiction to intrude into...

Loan Defaults And Suspension From Practice

Posted on December 14, 2009
The Tennessee Supreme Court has entered an order concerning a proposed amendment to its rules "to establish new procedures to promote attorneys' compliance with repayment or service obligations under any of the student loan programs..." The proposed rule provides for...

Self-Interested Representation Draws Suspension

Posted on December 14, 2009
The Indiana Supreme Court has disciplined two attorneys for conflicts of interest. One was suspended for 120 days without automatic reinstatement for representing a client when the representation was materially limited by his self-interest; the other for 30 days for...

Stipulation Voluntary, Discipline Recommended

Posted on December 14, 2009
A Louisiana hearing committee has recommended a one-year suspension with all but 30 days deferred in a matter involving three client complaints. The misconduct involved failure to escrow advance fees and return unearned fees after discharge. The attorney, represented by...

South Carolina Opines On Judges And Facebook

Posted on December 12, 2009
From the South Carolina Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct: OPINION NO. 17-2009 RE: Propriety of a magistrate judge being a member of a social networking site such as Facebook. FACTS A magistrate judge has inquired as to the...

Has Anyone Seen A Bloody Shirt?

Posted on December 12, 2009
An Arizona hearing officer has recommended public censure in a bar discipline matter involving an attorney admitted in 1972. The attorney was appointed to represent a defendant charges with hindering the prosecution of a homicide. The client, at the attorney's...

Lawyer As Witness

Posted on December 11, 2009
The State of Washington Court of Appeals, Division III, has reversed an order disqualifying counsel for two persons injured in a one-car rollover accident. The court that ordered disqualification had found that the lawyer was a necessary witness. The court...

Authority Arguers (Litigating Lawyers) Versus Authority Creators (Transactional Lawyers): It's Still All Outside-In

Posted on December 11, 2009
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Some time ago, I wrote an article, largely in reaction to an article Richard Posner had written on contract interpretation, suggesting that there was far less connection than commonly expected by lawyers between a ?mutual intention...

In Service Of The School

Posted on December 11, 2009
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that a high school math teacher who was injured skiing while serving as a chaperone to the ski club was acting within the course of employment: ...it is clear that the employee's skiing...

Paying Dues

Posted on December 11, 2009
An Arizona hearing officer has recommended a four-year suspension with probation for two years if reinstated in a matter where the attorney had continued to practice after suspension for non-payment of bar dues. The attorney had continued to accept court...

General Decline

Posted on December 11, 2009
A Louisiana hearing committee has recommended a three-year suspension of an attorney described as "one of the most prolific bankrutcy lawyers in the Middle District [of Louisiana]." Admitted in 1971, the attorney had been charged (in one count) with misconduct...

Dishonesty Not Caused By Depression

Posted on December 11, 2009
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department has imposed a five-year suspension, with no credit for time served, for a pattern of misconduct involving neglect and dishonesty to conceal the neglect. The attorney had been employed as...

Fee Dispute Resolution Process Bars Litigation

Posted on December 11, 2009
An interesting decision of the North Carolina Court of Appeals holds that the courts lack subject matter jurisdiction over a lawyer's suit for allegedly unpaid fees when the suit is filed contrary to State Bar rules governing resolution of fee...

Conditional Admission Change In Florida

Posted on December 10, 2009
The Florida Supreme Court announced today the adoption of a new rule that limits the confidential conditional admission feature to persons who are permanent Florida residents, who will engage in practice primarily in Florida and who "can and will be....

A Wild Ride, A Well-Told Story

Posted on December 10, 2009
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has issued an opinion that begins "Sally Jumper is dead but a dispute arising from her assets lives on." The court then tells us that "Sally Jumper led an interesting life" and takes...

A Privilege, Not A Right

Posted on December 09, 2009
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the denial of a petition for reinstatement of an attorney admitted in 1975. He had been privately admonished in 1987 and publically censured in 1994. Then, three complaints led to his two-year suspension. In...

"Reprehensible And Insulting"

Posted on December 09, 2009
A panel of the Illinois Hearing Board has recommended a one-year suspension based on findings of misconduct involving sexual behavior towards clients both in the office and over the phone. An example from the testimony of one of the complainants,...

Comfort Level

Posted on December 09, 2009
The Arizona Supreme Court has adopted the recommendation of a hearing officer of a 30 day suspension and probation of a prosecutor for a wide and persistent array of ethics violations during a trial. The hearing officer had found that...

"What's Up?"

Posted on December 09, 2009
The Maryland Court of Appeals has held that a criminal suspect was not subjected to custodial interrogation or its functional equivalent when a police officer greeting him with the words "What's up, Maurice?" The court affirmed the conclusion of the....

Sophistry About Conviction Circumstances Leads To Disbarment

Posted on December 08, 2009
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department has disbarred an attorney convicted of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The court noted that the attorney had been previously incarcerated for contempt as a result of his...

No "Friends" For Judges

Posted on December 08, 2009
The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee opines on ethical issues relating to judges' use of on line social networking sites. A summary of the opinion from the committee: Whether a judge may post comments and other material on the judge's...

No Discipline For T-Shirt Slogan

Posted on December 07, 2009
The Arizona Disciplinary Commission has accepted (by a 5-4 vote) the recommendation of a hearing officer and dismissed ethics charges against an attorney. The attorney had beeen charged with misconduct for wearing a t-shirt to an interview with two police...

Fit To Practice

Posted on December 07, 2009
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reinstated an attorney who had been suspended for three years retroactive to a suspension imposed in December 2005. The attorney had "suffered from a long term addiction to hydrocodene, which she began taking in 1999...

Betrayal Of Trust

Posted on December 07, 2009
The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has recommended a fully-deferred suspension of one year and one day in case matter involving the failure to supervise an embezzling employee: The record in this case shows that [the attorney] failed to properly supervise...

Lacking In Execution

Posted on December 07, 2009
The Delaware Supreme Court has imposed a public reprimand and probation for two years in a matter that came to the attention of the Bar as a result of an audit by the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. The attorney...

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