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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 Second Bite

Posted on April 18, 2008
A conviction for assault was affirmed by the North Dakota Supreme Court. The trial judge disclosed that he was "socially acquainted" with a witness (their sons play baseball together) and would be "inclined to believe" the testimony of the witness....

Bad Day For Bar Counsel?

Posted on April 18, 2008
After today's earlier post on the dismissal of the bar prosecutor's appeal from Iowa comes an order from an Illinois granting summary judgment to an accused lawyer on the grounds that the prosecutor had not presented sufficient evidence in opposition:...

Due Deference

Posted on April 18, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department imposed reciprocal discipline of public censure based on the imposition of that sanction in Massachusetts, where the attorney conducted his practice. The court explains: "...it is generally accepted that the...

A Day Late

Posted on April 18, 2008
When a case is styled something like Disciplinary Board v. Attorney Doe, it is a pretty safe bet that the accused lawyer won the case or appeal. The Iowa Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the Attorney Disciplinary Board in...

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No Misconduct Found

Posted on April 17, 2008
An Illinois hearing board has recommended dismissal of disciplinary charges against an attorney admitted to practice in 2000. The attorney had assisted in the preparation of grant applications that did not accurately reflect case statistics; she had been hired by...

I Have Never Seen This Argument To The U.S. Fifth Circuit Before: "I Try Not to Read That Many Cases, Your Honor"

Posted on April 17, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Worst moot court tips ever? Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rendered this per curiam opinion that left me flabbergasted, thought its merits are uneventful (hence the p.c.). The lawyer was labeled...

Extreme Remorse Leads To Censure

Posted on April 17, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the Fourth Judicial Department censured an attorney who had agreed to and did pay a nonlawyer for a referral that resulted in the lawyer's retention and failing to pay one-half of the fee to...

Wisconsin Will Not Regulate Paralegals

Posted on April 17, 2008
The Wisconsin Supreme Court web page contains an announcement stating that the court has unanimously voted to not adopt a proposal by the Bar's Board of Governors that would have created a system for the licensing and regulation of paralegals....

Email Leads To Reprimand

Posted on April 17, 2008
The Maryland Court of Appeals imposed a reprimand in a rather interesting matter involving an attorney who met a woman through an internet dating site. When she inquired if there was a way "to get around the requirement that the...

Lethal Injection Procedure Upheld

Posted on April 16, 2008
The Supreme Court has decided that the procedures used in Kentucky for execution by lethal injection do not violate the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Executions had been placed on hold nationwide pending this decision...

Assisting Pro Se Litigants

Posted on April 16, 2008
A recent opinion of the New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics deals with the degree of assistance that a lawyer may provide to a pro se litigant. The committee concludes: "We believe that, given the New Jersey Supreme Court's...

A Quick Reality Check for 'Eli Stone'

Posted on April 16, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress While channel surfing the other night, I wound up watching about a third of Eli Stone, in which the lawyer was trying to get mandamus to evacuate the Golden Gate Bridge, anticipating an earthquake. I am...

"Get[ting] Into Integrity"

Posted on April 16, 2008
An attorney who had stipulated to a suspension of two years and a day with a fitness showing as a condition of reinstatement was suspended for three months by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The court states in its recitation of...

More CLE Credit For Pro Bono

Posted on April 16, 2008
The Minnesota Supreme Court entered an order soliciting comments on a proposed new rule that would expand continuing legal education credit "for pro bono work performed by qualifying legal services organizations and law firms representing persons of limited means, including...

Meyerstein on Enemy Combatants and What That Says About the Lawyer's Broader Role in Society

Posted on April 16, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Recently posted to SSRN, and Bill Henderson's journal there on 'law and society: the legal profession,' is Ariel Meyerstein, "The Law and Lawyers as Enemy Combatants," also published in 18 University of Florida Journal of Law...

No Restitution In Misappropriation Case

Posted on April 15, 2008
The D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility has filed a report recommending disbarment in a case involving intentional (or at least reckless) misappropriation and related dishonesty. The attorney had converted over $9,000 in entrusted estate funds. Two notable aspects of the...

All In The Family

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Illinois ARDC has filed disciplinary charges charging two lawyers as co-respondents in alleged misconduct in connection with real estate transactions. According to the charges, one lawyer had a prior relationship with two people who operated businesses that offered mortgage...

Not In Good Standing

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred a lawyer "found to have made knowingly false statements, amounting to perjury, as to his bar status, and to have acted to mislead and defruad investors" and who failed to participate in the disciplinary...

Specialist Recertification Denied

Posted on April 14, 2008
The Supreme Court of Hawai'i denied a lawyer's petition for renewal of certification as a specialist. The order recites that: "Upon consideration of the Verified Petition for Renewal of Certificate of Specialization submitted by Petitioner Judith Lee Sterling, Exhibits A...

An Article on MPRE Passing Score, From the Inside

Posted on April 14, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Apropos the posts here and here on the MPRE minimum passing score (our hat tip to John McSweeny), consider this brief article by the Director of Testing for the NCBE, Susan Case: Download Testing.pdf Dr. Case...

Supporting The Troops

Posted on April 14, 2008
The always-entertaining New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct ordered the censure of a justice of the Farmington Town Court for dismissing a speeding charge based on ex parte communications with a friend, the husband of the defendant. "Such conduct...

More on the MPRE Minimum Passing Score, How Do States Pick a Number?, and California Takers Just Dodged a '100' Bullet

Posted on April 14, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress We had this guest-post last week, discussing the MPRE passing score and where certain scores fall on a distribution or curve. After, guest-poster and statboy Dr. John McSweeny wrote these follow-up thoughts (including some specific pass...

Timely Filing Of Retainer Statement Required To Sue For Legal Fees

Posted on April 14, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department held that a law firm suing for legal fees was precluded from doing so by the failure to timely file the fee agreement, which is a prerequisite to a claim...

Affidavit Disclosed After Death Of Client

Posted on April 14, 2008
Courtesy of the web page of the North Dakota Supreme Court comes a report from the Grand Forks Herald about an affidavit that confirmed that an innocent man had been convicted of the murder of a police officer and had...

Cover Up Worse Than Underlying Misconduct

Posted on April 14, 2008
A lawyer was suspended for six months by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department based on findings of misconduct that included failure to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation and misrepresentations to the Grievance Committee...

Contingent Fees In Massachusetts

Posted on April 13, 2008
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order of a single justice and directed Bar counsel to issue an admonition in connection with charges relating to the attorney's contingent fee agreements. The attorney operates a high-volume personal injury practice...

For the second anniversary, isn't it liquid paper?

Posted on April 12, 2008
Posted by Alan Childress Two years ago, actually on April 8, I finally met Jeff face-to-face for the first time (and for that matter, Alene as well). A month before that, I met Mike at Georgetown while I was attending...

Maybe a Little Meta-ethics Wouldn't be Such a Bad Thing. . .

Posted on April 12, 2008
Posted by Jeff Lipshaw That was nice of Alan, and I too recommend Brad Wendel's post on the subject it most precisely dissects - when does a piece of legal advice stray so far from a description of what the...

Balancing Sanction Factors

Posted on April 11, 2008
The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department imposed a two-year suspension with permission to seek reinstatement no sooner than six months prior to the completion of the suspension where an attorney had engaged in misconduct that included...

Enthusiam Not Required

Posted on April 11, 2008
The Kansas Supreme Court held that a prosecutor breached a plea agreement to recommended probation if the defendant met a sentencing criteria that the defendant was able to satisfy. Although the prosecutor did recommended a probationary sentence, the court concluded...

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