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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

Opportunity Denied

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the decision of its Board of Bar Examiners denying an applicant's petition for partial certification of qualifications to sit for the bar examination. The applicant is a member of the Bucharest, Paris and New York....

Driving On Suspended License Leads To Suspension Of License To Practice Law

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court imposed a six-month suspension of an attorney who had continued to drive while his operator's license was suspended or revoked, got into an accident and drove away. He was located through his license plate number, convicted...

No Privity, No Cause Of Action

Posted on May 07, 2008
The Ohio Supreme Court has held that a beneficiary of a will may not maintain a negligence action against the attorney of the decedent for the preparation of a deed that resulted in an increased tax liability for the estate:...

Lawyers in Love and Control

Posted on May 07, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw I am a great fan of Richard Ford's Frank Bascombe trilogy (The Sportswriter, Independence Day, and The Lay of the Land), and for our two-car caravan from Cambridge to Michigan, my wife Alene gave me the...

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"An Intolerable Conflict Of Interest"

Posted on May 06, 2008
The New Jersey Supreme Court held today in a unanimous opinion that an attorney who had represented a juvenile charged with murder had "an intolerable conflict of interest" and thus provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to disclose to...

Self-Medication With Cocaine No Bar To Suspension

Posted on May 06, 2008
A Pennsylvania lawyer was suspended for a year and one day (a sanction that requires the attorney to petition for reinstatement) for "his solicitation of cocaine from his client." The lawyer had been friends with the client "since the late...

Depressed Lawyers in California and Elsewhere

Posted on May 06, 2008
The California Bar Journal has a May 08 story called Depression takes a heavy toll on lawyers. Among other issues, it cites the Mental Healthy Day idea of GW student Daniel Suvor (our story on that initiative here), and the...

Who Bears The Costs?

Posted on May 06, 2008
A Michigan attorney was suspended for his failure to pay the costs of a bar discipline matter. This is an interesting and, I suspect, effective way to focus the attorney's attention on the costs obligation. In the District of Columbia,...

New Bar Exam Procedure In North Dakota

Posted on May 06, 2008
North Dakota has announced that applicants for admission who take the July 2008 bar examination may do so on their personal computer. The bar will use the Examsoft program and applicants must follow the registration procedures set forth in the...

Tulane and Its Boom Renaissance in the News...In Boston

Posted on May 06, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Two weeks ago, Jeff linked his hometown paper The Boston Globe for an article on Brian Leiter and his kingmaking skills. Now I am a fan of the Globe for another reason: last week's article on...

No Comity

Posted on May 06, 2008
Not a legal profession case, but the Maryland Court of Appeals issued an opinion today that refused to grant comity to a Pakistani talaq in a matter between two citizens of Pakistan living in Maryland. The court concluded that the...

"A Rather Preposterous Story"

Posted on May 06, 2008
The North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned sanctions imposed on a defendant in a civil case who had failed to appear at his scheduled deposition. The court below had imposed attorney's fees, court reporter fees and struck two affirmative defenses...

Nephewtism Not Prohibited

Posted on May 05, 2008
The South Carolina Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct opines that a circuit court judge may employ a nephew as a judicial clerk. The code provision that defines and prohibits the hiring of "family members" does not include the...

Judge May Not Serve As Trustee When Trust Is In Litigation

Posted on May 05, 2008
The Massachusetts Committee on Judicial Ethics recently issued an opinion concluding that a newly-appointed judge may not continue to serve as the trustee for a trust that is involved in litigation: The committee is of the opinion...that your continued service...

Under The Influence

Posted on May 05, 2008
The South Carolina Supreme Court ordered a one-year definite suspension of an attorney found in contempt in a civil matter for violating an order compelling discovery responses and bouncing a check tendered to pay court-ordered attorney's fees. He also failed...

Contempt Order Vacated

Posted on May 05, 2008
The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded a finding of direct criminal contempt of an attorney. The alleged false testimony at issue "did not have an obstructive effect" and the circuit court "did not have judicial knowledge...

New York Judicial Ethics Opinions

Posted on May 05, 2008
There are a few interesting recent opinions from the New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics. In one, the committee opines that a judge "may not engage in the 'business' of performing marriages not solicit requests for such services as...

More Severe Reciprocal Discipline

Posted on May 05, 2008
An attorney who had his license suspended for one year in Illinois was subjected to the more severe discipline of an indefinite suspension in Kansas. The court concluded that: With respect to the discipline to be imposed, we have carefully...

"An Inordinate Amount of Trouble"

Posted on May 05, 2008
An attorney who had failed to comply with legitimate demands for a response to bar complaint was suspended for six months by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department. The attorney had noted "that any explanation he...

Law, Accounting, Finance, & JD-MBAs

Posted on May 04, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw Over at PrawfsBlawg, Adam Levitin (Georgetown, left) provoked a discussion on the value of the JD-MBA degree, as well as the general shortcomings of business law education. Let me throw in my two cents' worth. We...

More Controversial Faculty Decisions at Berkeley Nee Boalt Hall School of Law

Posted on May 04, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress This blog would not be the first one to note the controversial name-change campaign at U.C. Berkeley's Law School. I got my first alum mail with just Berkeley Law on it last week -- Boalt no...

Required Recent Reading for Law Dean Candidates and Search Committees

Posted on May 03, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Jeff posted last week (here) on the frequent but surmountable "divide" between practice and theory in law school, or more precisely between practitioners and theoreticians within the larger law school world. The mission of legal education...

More Proof That Not All Lawyers Are Brilliant, On Several Levels: "It's My Wife's Marijuana, Officer"

Posted on May 03, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress The blog Western Justice {"from a small town DA") shares its nominee for the "we've heard it all" file, which "is the elected DA who was pulled over, and had less than one ounce of marijuana....

Abuse Of Discretion

Posted on May 02, 2008
A Nevada district court judge filed a motion to reduce child support payments in his own divorce case after he was defeated in his reelection bid. After the hearing on the motion, the judge "entered an order sealing the entire...

An attorney presented two orders

Posted on May 02, 2008
An attorney presented two orders for a judge's signature. The judge had intended to sign both but overlooked one. When the lawyer realized the error, he forged the judge's signature and filed the order. When he was confronted, he admitted...

Bar Shuts Down Unauthorized Practice

Posted on May 02, 2008
The web page of the California State Bar reports that the Bar has taken action to shut down a non-lawyer's immigration practice. The Bar obtained an injunction pursuant to a provision in state law that permits such action based on...

Ethics Rules Apply

Posted on May 02, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department rejected a request for dismissal of disciplinary charges and disbarred an attorney who had permitted a corporation to use his name and allowed non-attorneys access to the corporation's "settlement truust...

"Not Simple Niceties"

Posted on May 02, 2008
The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board affirmed a hearing panel's order of a 180 day suspension and restitution in a matter arising out of the lawyer's representation of a client "in various actions including parental kidnapping charges, divorce, probation violations, and...

Garnishment Notice And Trust Account Obligations

Posted on May 01, 2008
Does a law firm that has issued a trust account check and receives notice of a writ of garnishment on the trust account prior to the cashing of the check have a duty to inquire if the check has cleared...

Suing Former Partners

Posted on May 01, 2008
In an appeal in a breach of contract action, the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department held that the trial court had improperly dismissed the complaint of a former law firm partner that the defendant partners had...

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