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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

No Restitution, No Reinstatement

Posted on January 07, 2009
The decision whether or not to reinstate a suspended or disbarred lawyer involves a balancing between our interest in the possibility of redemption with our concern that past lapses may reflect the danger of future harm. The balance must always...

Tulane Wins National Championship In NCAA Football

Posted on January 06, 2009
Every year someone does one of those chain-comparisons to declare, like, Slippery Rock the best team in the country. This year's winner is my Tulane Green Wave. I know this is off-topic, but believe me Jeff lives for this illogical...

A Lawyer Speaks About Management

Posted on January 06, 2009
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Courtesy of Time, here's the commentary of a lawyer who had never run an organization (other than a law review) about being an effective leader/manager: I don't think there's some magic trick here. I think I've...

Fee Fight Remanded

Posted on January 06, 2009
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department remanded to a special referee a fee dispute between law partners in a post-dissolution action: The NSN matter, which was in progress at the time of the firm's dissolution, involved...

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Metaphor, Risk, and Judgment

Posted on January 06, 2009
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Two colleagues walked into my office yesterday and told me they had thought of me when reading the Michael Lewis/David Einhorn essay that purports to explain exactly what went wrong with the financial markets in the...

Bounced CLE Check Leads To Discipline

Posted on January 06, 2009
A Louisiana hearing committee recommends a public reprimand plus a one-year probation in a case where they concluded that any harm caused by the violation was de minimus. The disciplinary problem stemmed from the continuing legal education obligation...

No Deal, No Claim

Posted on January 05, 2009
An attorney who had ordered a "Smart Light" over the internet wanted to take advantage of the seller's advertised "free bonus" offer. He sought to pay with his American Express credit card but was advised that there was a shipping...

Untold Story

Posted on January 05, 2009
A Louisiana hearing committee has recommended permanent disbarment of a lawyer who defaulted on charges arising from his involvement in a bond trading program that offered guatenteed payout and a substantial return to investors. He had defaulted in civil proceedings...

No Second Chances

Posted on January 05, 2009
It is not a shock to see a case that concludes that disbarment, even permanent disbarment, is the result when an attorney is convicted of armed bank robbery. So concludes the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board in a recent report and...

Deliberate Dishonesty Draws Actual Suspension

Posted on January 05, 2009
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals rejected as unduly lenient a sanction proposed by its Board on Professional Responsibility in a case involving neglect and dishonesty. A hearing committee had found that the attorney was not credible in his...

All-Legal System NFL Team

Posted on January 03, 2009
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw It would be so easy to start and finish with captains Lawyer Milloy (S, Atlanta) and Ty Law (CB, NY Jets), but there is in fact an entire all-legal system (civil, family, labor, and criminal justice)...

"Shut Up"

Posted on January 03, 2009
A Seattle Municipal Court judge was admonished by stipulation as a result of his telling attorneys to "shut up" on two occasions. One incident involved a city attorney; the other a defense lawyer. The agreed on sanction was imposed by...

Resume Misconduct Draws Suspension, Probation

Posted on January 02, 2009
From the January 2009 online edition of the California Bar Journal: [An attorney] was suspended for one year, stayed, placed on two years of probation with an actual 60-day suspension and was ordered to take the MPRE within one year....

The Final Act

Posted on January 02, 2009
The California Bar Journal summarizes a recent disbarment case that began as a reciprocal probation order from Washington State: The disbarment is the final act in a relatively minor disciplinary history that began in 1996 when Esau failed to return....

Disbarment For Traffic Offenses

Posted on January 02, 2009
The New York Appellate Division for the Fourth Judicial Department recently disbarred two attorneys for felony convictions for driving while intoxicated (In re Bailey) and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting (In re Duffy). The court did so...

Failure To Supervise

Posted on January 02, 2009
The Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge imposed a stayed 60 day suspension with probation for two years of an attorney who had failed to properly supervise the work a debt collection agency that he had employed as contractors. The actions of...

Conversion Of Funds Of Incarcerated Beneficiary Warrants Disbarment

Posted on January 02, 2009
An Illinois woman who died left her estate to her grandson, who is serving time for arson and murder with a projected release date in 2031. The estate was administered by an attorney who used a significant portion of the...

Attorney Sanctioned For Web Site Post

Posted on January 02, 2009
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department imposed a five year suspension of an attorney found to have committed a laundry list of ethics violations in two matters. One involved misuse of funds entrusted to the attorney...

California Test Takers Oppose Disclosure

Posted on December 31, 2008
The California Bar Journal reports that 23 persons who have sat for the California bar examination have filed a motion in opposition to the lawsuit of Professor Richard Sander and others seeking access to data on exam takers. The web...

Without Delay

Posted on December 31, 2008
A board recommendation for a one year suspension of an attorney was accepted by the Wyoming Supreme Court. The attorney had been on an interim suspension and had failed to appear in several matters.He also had been arrested in possession...

A Batch Of Dissents

Posted on December 31, 2008
The year of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ended with a series (seven, by my count) of dissents and one reluctant concurrence from Justice Starcher. In a case involving a hospital's subrogation claim: I dissent because, in...

New Code For Ohio Judges

Posted on December 31, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court has announced the adoption of a revised Code of Judicial Conduct, effective March 1, 2009. The court's web page highlights some of the new provisions: A rule that bars a judge or judicial candidate from making...

Sanction Disagreement For Sex Offense

Posted on December 30, 2008
An attorney who was convicted of misdemeanor attempted criminal sex act in the third degree as a result of his participation in sexually explicit chat room conversations with a person that he believed was a 13 year old girl was...

Maine Amends Admission Rules

Posted on December 30, 2008
Effective January 1, an amendment to the bar admission rules in Maine will no longer require an applicant to have graduated from an accredited college. The explanatory comment notes that the continued requirement that the applicant have graduated from an...

Neglect Of Appeals Leads To Suspension

Posted on December 30, 2008
An attorney who had neglected two criminal appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was suspended for one year with six months stayed on good behavior by the Ohio Supreme Court. The decision is summarized...

Failure To Timely Disclose DUI Prevents Admission

Posted on December 30, 2008
The Maryland Court of Appeals denied bar admission to an applicant who failed to promptly update his application with information concerning an arrest for DUI and related offenses that had occurred after he had filed his initial application but prior...

Happy New Year!

Posted on December 29, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Over at Volokh Conspiracy, they are having a grand debate on whether Happy Holidays should or should not replace Merry Christmas. One of the reasons I like Christmas going by is that we can all agree...

MyShingle.com Meets Wave Energy

Posted on December 29, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw If I make it through the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times before finishing my coffee and oatmeal, I read the Boston Globe (it's a slightly longer read than the Indianapolis Star, but not...

Acupuncture Bill Insufficient To Prove Mitigation

Posted on December 29, 2008
The Washington Supreme Court imposed a nine month suspension with a requirement that the attorney participate in practice management counseling and refund a $500 unearned fee to a client. The court found insufficient mitigation to warrant a lesser sanction: ...

Michigan Decision Criticized

Posted on December 29, 2008
Professor Larry Dubin of University of Detroit Mercy Law School has an opinion piece in Detroit News.com on the recent Michigan Supreme Court decision overturning a Attorney Discipline Board order imposing discipline for failure to return an unearned fee...

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