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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

Imputed Misconduct Justifies License Denial

Posted on June 26, 2008
An accountant who had been convicted of wire fraud arranged to be a 49% shareholder of a public accounting firm while there was a pending proceeding to revoke his license. The Missouri Supreme Court held that the Board of Accountancy...

Not Yet

Posted on June 26, 2008
In an interesting decision, the New York Appellate Division for the Third Judicial Department denied full admission to an applicant conditionally admitted in May 2007. The applicant had a number of issues enumerated by the court including traffic violations that...

Suspension Insufficient

Posted on June 26, 2008
The Florida Supreme Court accepted findings of misconduct but rejected a referee's proposed three-year suspension in favor of disbarment in a matter where the attorney had represented a client who had engaged in unauthorized practice. The lawyer then, in essence,...

Transition To Firm Leads To Ethics Charges

Posted on June 26, 2008
A complaint filed by the Illinois ARDC alleges that the attorney had undertaken the representation of two plaintiffs in cases involving claims of employment discrimination. The lawyer, who had a solo practice, then accepted a partnership with a law firm...

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Not An Infamous Crime

Posted on June 26, 2008
An attorney who had been convicted (and subsequently pardoned) for a drug offense that occurred when he was 17 years old is not disqualified from holding the position of Family Court Commissioner, according to the holding of the Delaware Supreme...

Call for Papers: International Journal on the Legal Profession

Posted on June 25, 2008
[Posted by Bill Henderson] The International Journal on the Legal Profession has issued a call for papers on the topic "Impact of Legal Change on Legal Practitioners." Here are the details: The International Journal of the Legal Profession invites submissions...

Pattern Of Misconduct Charged

Posted on June 25, 2008
The Illinois ARDC has filed a second amended complaint alleging that the attorney engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior toward three clients and the wife (and opposing party) of another client. Samples of the alleged conduct from the charging document: On...

Post-Conviction Relief Does Not Affect Disbarment Order

Posted on June 25, 2008
An Oklahoma lawyer who was disbarred as a result of convictions for stalking and felony distribution or attempted distribution of obscene or indecent material was granted post-conviction relief after the disbarment order. The relief reduced the felonies to misdemeanors...

No Fiduciary Breach

Posted on June 25, 2008
The New York Court of Appeals today held that a lawsuit alleging, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty against an Orthodox rabbi by a women with whom he was alleged to have had a 3 1/2 year intimate affair...

Status Restored

Posted on June 25, 2008
A lawyer disbarred in New York for a federal felony conviction filed an amended certificate for his professional corporation that named his daughter (also an attorney) as director, president, secretary and shareholder. He thereafter filed documents claiming that he was...

A Matter Worthy Of Further Investigation

Posted on June 25, 2008
The District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit discrimination in employment with the following language: Rule 9.1?Nondiscrimination A lawyer shall not discriminate against any individual in conditions of employment because of the individual?s race, color, religion, national origin, sex,...

Luban On New York Prosecutor Story

Posted on June 24, 2008
When a Good Prosecutor Throws a Case David Luban Should a prosecutor throw a case to avoid sending men he thinks are innocent to jail? This story appeared in yesterday?s New York Times: a career prosecutor in New York City?s...

Check Your Mail Or Suffer The Consequences

Posted on June 24, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department imposed the reciprocal discipline of disbarment based on the imposition of that sanction in Georgia. The lawyer had not participated in the Georgia matter after attempted personal and mail service...

Too Much To Arbitrate

Posted on June 24, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department held today that the Fee Dispute Resolution Program does not apply when the amount in dispute exceeds $50,000: The Fee Dispute Resolution Program has no applicability where the amount in...

Trust Funds Used To Purchase Drugs

Posted on June 24, 2008
A lawyer who wrote escrow account checks to himself as well as to grocery stores and other businesses was suspended for six months by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. His parner discovered the problem, replaced the funds and dissolved the parnership....

No ADA Claim For Dishonesty Dismissal From Medical School

Posted on June 24, 2008
The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the University of Vermont, rejecting a claim that the University discriminated against a medical student based on a disability. A faculty member had discovered that the fouth-year student had...

Unauthorized Settlement

Posted on June 24, 2008
A proposed 90 day suspension was rejected as an insufficient sanction by the South Carolina Supreme Court, which imposed a suspension of six months. The lawyer had represented a client in a personal injury case, settled without the client's consent...

Real life imitates episode of Shark (well, sort of)

Posted on June 23, 2008
According to today's New York Times (here), one of Morgenthau's prosecutors says that he intentionally threw a case because he was convinced that the defendant wasn't guilty. In the recently canceled CBS series Shark, James Woods's character Sebastian Stark throws...

Sokol on Antitrust Counsel (and Some Thoughts on Chambers Generally)

Posted on June 23, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw (cross-posted at PrawfsBlawg) Danny Sokol (Florida) has an interesting post over at Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog (a Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network) about the Chambers USA rankings of New York City and Washington...

The Safety Net

Posted on June 23, 2008
An attorney in Louisiana was retained by a health care home to negotiate a reduction in Medicare reinbursements. The attorney, who was paid a $5,000 advance fee, never obtained the reduction. the client hired new counsel and sought an accounting...

Cocaine Use Violates Disciplinary Probation

Posted on June 23, 2008
We posted a comment Friday about a D.C. reciprocal case that questioned whether personal cocaine use violates ethics rules. A decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court involves an attorney placed on probation after a three-month suspension in 2006...

No Disqualification

Posted on June 23, 2008
The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed an order denying a motion to disqualify counsel in a divorce case. The husband had called an attorney's office to discuss his concerns after the wife had purchased a house without his knowledge....

No Privity

Posted on June 20, 2008
A client in a divorce case entered into a settlement agreement that included disposition of two parcels of land. Her attorney reviewed a quitclaim deed drafted by opposing counsel and the client executed the agreement. She later sued her attorney...

No Summary Reciprocal Discipline For Agency Action

Posted on June 20, 2008
An attorney who had been reciprocally suspended by a panel of the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct sought and obtained mandamus relief by order of the Arkansas Supreme Court. The sanction was imposed "based on information provided...

An Untrustworthy Employee

Posted on June 20, 2008
The Mississippi Supreme Court declined to adopt a proposed one-year retroactive suspension and remanded the bar discipline matter for consideration of the proper sanction. The court also found an ethical violation of Rule 5.5(b)(aiding unauthorized practice)...

Lawyer Liable For Failure To Honor Assignment

Posted on June 20, 2008
The Wyoming Supreme Court has held that an attorney who is aware of an agreement to pay the client's medical bills from the proceeds of litigation is obligated to the medical provider if the medical bills are not paid from...

Problems Do Not Prevent Reinstatement

Posted on June 20, 2008
An attorney suspended for attempted income tax evasion was reinstated to practice by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. the attorney had two felony convictions prior to law school and had pardoned for those offenses by Governor Tommy Thompson. There also had...

Drug Use Unethical?

Posted on June 20, 2008
The District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility rejected a recommendation of Bar Counsel to impose a 30 day suspension in a reciprocal discipline matter where New Jersey had imposed public censure. The offense? Possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia...

Depression Caused Misconduct

Posted on June 20, 2008
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended an attorney for a year and a day for unauthorized practice after he had transferred to inactive status. He was hired as a contract attorney by a Delaware firm while inactive, and became lead counsel...

Collectibility And Legal Malpractice

Posted on June 19, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court recently held that the plaintiff in a legal malpractice case must prove that the proven damages are collectible. The court's web page notes the following from the majority opinion in the 5-2 decision: Writing for the...

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