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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

Jogging With Judge Unethical

Posted on November 23, 2010
The Florida Judical Ethics Advisory Committee has opined on a subject that has long fascinated legal ethics scholars. Here is the result: ISSUE Whether a judge may allow juveniles to perform their community service hours by participating in a jogging...

The Very Definition of Unjust Enrichment

Posted on November 22, 2010
The Louisiana Supreme Court has disbarred a former district judge of the Parish of Caddo as a result of a racketeering conviction. The judge had used his judicial office to enrich himself by, as the indictment alleged and a jury...

Former Greenberg Traurig Attorney Disbarred In Georgia

Posted on November 22, 2010
After rejecting his prior proposed consent dispositions, the Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an attorney's voluntary license surrender, which is "tantamount to disbarment." The attorney had been employed at Greenberg Traurig and had billed nearly $500,000 in false invoices...

Out Of Their League

Posted on November 20, 2010
A New Jersey attorney has been censured for misconduct in the representation of a client for injuries sustained in a bar fight with NBA star Carmelo Anthony. The client told the attorney that he had a videotape "depicting Anthony and...

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Hammer Time

Posted on November 20, 2010
The New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board has ordered a suspension of three months conditioned on proof of fitness of an attorney who had "left obscene and threatening meessages on a former client's answering machine and later threw a hammer through...

No Windfall

Posted on November 19, 2010
The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment to a law firm defendant because the plaintiff had already achieved a full recovery in a claim against a departed firm partner. The court lays out the facts: Elyousef, a...

A Son For A Client

Posted on November 19, 2010
The Iowa Supreme Court has imposed a 60-day suspension in a matter that involves a 74 year old attorney who has practiced law for 45 years. The court accepted as binding a stipulation of facts but rejected the 30 day...

Two Estate Plans, No Privity

Posted on November 19, 2010
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department affirmed the dismissal of claims brought against a law firm by a client for whom the firm had done estate planning. The claims arose from the firm's representation of her...

False CLE Certification Charged

Posted on November 19, 2010
The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging that an attorney had falsely certified that he had completed online CLE courses (including several on ethics topics). According to the complaint: Each online course set forth above, required the user to...

No Recall For New Jersey Senator

Posted on November 18, 2010
The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that the petition to recall United States Senator Robert Menendez is unconstitutional. The court reversed the judgment of the Appellate Division and vacated an order to the Secretary of State. Two justices dissented,...

Black Lung

Posted on November 18, 2010
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has rejected a hearing panel subcommittee's recommendation that ethics charges against an attorney defending a black lung case be dismissed. The court found that the attorney's conduct involved altering evidence in an attempt...

Ten Days But Not Really

Posted on November 18, 2010
A Florida attorney was suspended on a reciprocal basis in the District of Columbia for neglect and failure to communicate with a client. The attorney had responded to an order to show cause and argued against discipline identical to that...

"Wholly Unpersuaded"

Posted on November 17, 2010
The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the denial of a motion to disqualify a judge in civil litigation based on an allegation that the judge had been exposed to confidential information from arbitration. The court concluded that the motion was untimely:...

Consider Yourself Admonished

Posted on November 17, 2010
The Arizona Disciplinary Commission has imposed reciprocal discipline in a matter from Florida. The attorney had been admonished for minor misconduct fthat involved paying the brother of an opposing party "to reveal certain information regarding his brother...

Paint Job Leads To Proposed Suspension

Posted on November 17, 2010
The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has agreed with a hearing committee that an attorney had engaged in misconduct by misusing her position as a New Orleans Assistant District Attorney to threaten and coerce two people to pay a disputed civil...

Don't Leave Files At The Xerox Machine

Posted on November 16, 2010
An Illinois Hearing Board has issued a report and recommendation in a case alleging three counts of misconduct against a former public defender. The attorney had served as a public defender from 1992 to April 2009, rising to a senior...

Inside Information

Posted on November 16, 2010
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department has disbarred an attorney as a result of a criminal conviction for conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The court described the admitted facts: During his plea allocution respondent admitted that...

A Year And A (Very Long) Day

Posted on November 16, 2010
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted the reinstatement petition of an attorney suspended for a year and a day in March 1992. After the suspension, the petitioner worked at a warehouse and as a janitor prior to obtaining employment with...

More Friend Than Lawyer

Posted on November 16, 2010
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved an agreed public censure in a case where the attorney had drafted a will for a "frail, elderly, and childless widow" that made him executor and beneficiary of her estate. The attorney knew better-- when...

The Party's Over

Posted on November 15, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court imposed suspensions of 30 and 60 days in a much-publicized matter involving findings of sexual misconduct against two big law associates who engaged in the misconduct while on a Wisconsin trip to the summer home of...

Overbilling Results In 90 Day Suspension

Posted on November 15, 2010
Last Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a proposed 90 day suspensdion of a former Holland & Knight attorney based on a complaint of false billing practices. In March 2010, Chicagobusiness.com reported on a possible deal in the case: Former...

Brave New World

Posted on November 15, 2010
The National Organization of Bar Counsel has posted the final recommendations of the Critical Issues Summit entitled Equipping Our Lawyers: Law School education, Continuing Legal education, and Legal Practice in the 21st Century. The summit was sponsored by ALI-ABA Continuing...

The Most Serious Misconduct

Posted on November 15, 2010
Noting that disbarment is permanent and thus reserved for the most serious misconduct, the Indiana Supreme Court found that disbarment was appropriate in a matter involving a pattern of neglect in multiple client matters as well as a series of...

Everything You Wanted To Know About Bar Admission, But Were Afraid To Ask...

Posted on November 15, 2010
...is the title of a presentation we do annually at Georgetown Law to provide students with information about selecting and passing a state bar as well as admission issues relating to character and fitness to practice. This web link should...

Head Count

Posted on November 15, 2010
An Illinois Hearing Board has recommended a stayed six-month suspension with one year of probation in a matter involving the misuse of entrusted funds. The board found that the absence of a dishonest intent was a mitigating factor: There is...

Call Tony The Tiger...

Posted on November 13, 2010
The Arizona Disciplinary Commission has imposed a reciprocal public reprimand based on a sanction imposed on an attorney in Nevada. The misconduct involved a ten second radio advertisement that ran in Nevada several times over a period of several months...

Differing Results Precludes Summary Judgment

Posted on November 12, 2010
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment in a legal malpractice case. In the underlying criminal matter, the plaintiff had lost his post-conviction ineffective assistance of counsel claims. He then prevailed in federal court...

Ya Got Trouble (In Davenport, Iowa Not River City)

Posted on November 12, 2010
The Iowa Supreme Court has held the following ordinance of the Davenport City Council to be unconstitutional: The city council finds that there has been an increase in the number of criminal acts committed by juveniles. The city council further...

"A Command, Not A Suggestion"

Posted on November 12, 2010
An attorney who had continued to take on client matters while serving a suspension of eighteen months was disbarred by the Nebraska Supreme Court. The attorney admitted the violations but claimed mitigation based on depression. The referee had found that...

Business Venture With Client Leads To Disbarment

Posted on November 12, 2010
The South Carolina Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney for misconduct that primarilty involved a business transaction with a client: In terms of Respondent's business dealings with Client, we find Rule 1.8(a), RPC, of Rule 407, SCACR is primarily implicated...

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