Ethics

Today marks the opening of the 2010 term at the Supreme Court.  My article examining the Court's lawyering focus last term recently was published in the American University Law Review, available here. 

I'm tracking lawyering cases again this term, and so far have identified five.  This time last year, the count was seven.  Here are the cases, oral argument dates, and a brief summary of the issues:

Los Angeles County v. Humphries (October 5).  Los Angeles County challenges an award of attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. section 1988.

Connick v. Thompson (October 6).  Connick questions the imposition of failure-to-train liability on a district attorney's office. (A jury awarded $14 million to a former death-row inmate who spent 18 years in prison, released after prosecutorial misconduct was revealed.)

Harrington v. Richter (October 12).  Harrington involves a defense attorney's decision to use vigorous cross-examination and other methods to create reasonable doubt rather than expert testimony and forensic evidence. 

Premo v. Moore (October 12).  Premo examines whether a defense attorney's decision not to move to suppress a confession constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel.

Cullen v. Pinholster (November 9) Cullen questions whether defense counsel was ineffective in failing to consult with an additional psychiatrist and more family members to produce sufficient mitigating evidence.

You can read more about my thoughts on Harrington v. Richter here, and I'll be blogging about some of the other cases as the Court takes them up.