Nov

17

What Is a Lie and Is It Constitutionally Protected?

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | November 17, 2009 | 6 Comments

I think that the three judge panel’s decision to recommend dismissal of ethics charges against Justice Michael Gableman is the right outcome. I doubt that we really want tribunals passing upon the truth and falsity of campaign speech – even for judges.
There were differing approaches taken by the panel judges. Judges Snyder and Deininger found [...]

Oct

10

Legal Ethics Course Name

Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 10, 2009 | 4 Comments

The October 2009 edition of the National Jurist magazine includes a statement from Jack Crittenden, the publication’s editor-in-chief, calling for law schools to begin teaching morality.  Citing the embarrassing role played by lawyers in the financial meltdown of 2008, Crittenden writes that “our law schools should be discussing the concepts of fairness and compassion in [...]

Oct

3

Questions of Professionalism

Posted by: Rebecca K. Blemberg | October 3, 2009 | 2 Comments

I’ve been thinking about professionalism lately.  Two discussions in the past week or so have stuck with me.
The first discussion appeared in the Law Librarian Blog (thank you, Professor O’Brien, for forwarding it.)  In Florida, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Presnell issued an order denying a plaintiff’s motion for voluntary dismissal for
Failing to comply with [...]

Sep

13

Lawyers & Social Networking

Posted by: Lisa Mazzie | September 13, 2009 | 7 Comments

An article in today’s New York Times talks about what can happen when lawyers open up online.  The article begins with the story of Sean Conway.  Attorney Conway took to his blog to state exactly how angry he was with a Fort Lauderdale judge.  He said she was an “Evil, Unfair Witch.”  But because Conway is [...]

Sep

13

On What Lawyers Really Do

Posted by: Tim Casey | September 13, 2009 | 1 Comment

Client service is not a class taught in law schools, but don’t forget that client service is at the heart of what we do as lawyers. Our mandate as attorneys is to zealously (and ethically, of course) represent our clients. So whatever area of the law you are in or going into, don’t forget that [...]

Sep

4

Rumors of the Death of the Billable Hour Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Posted by: Tim Casey | September 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Or so it seems to me.  Lately, there has been a variety of articles proclaiming the death, or impending death, of the billable hour.  So goes the argument: Billable hours misalign incentives between lawyers and their clients; law firms and lawyers have faced increasing pressure over recent years to redefine their business model and move [...]

Sep

4

Thinking Like a Lawyer

Posted by: Lisa Mazzie | September 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

At the start of each academic year, I cannot help but to think of Professor Kingsfield, the notorious contracts professor in The Paper Chase. The various classroom scenes where Professor Kingsfield grills student after student on classic contracts cases like Hawkins v. McGee have for years served as a sort of example of the “typical” [...]

May

26

Professional Responsibility: One Marine’s Example

Posted by: Peter Heyne | May 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As I was driving home the evening of Memorial Day, I happened upon Terry Gross’ Fresh Air. She was interviewing former Marine Donovan Campbell. From the NPR site:

Campbell served three combat deployments, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. In Iraq, he commanded Joker One, a platoon of new Marines that he trained and transformed [...]

May

9

More Advice for Online Contact

Posted by: Andrea K. Schneider | May 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Following up on my post regarding email negotiation last week, the ABA Journal noted this week that there are limits on the use of social spaces in order to gather information:
A lawyer who wants to see what a potential witness says to personal contacts on his or her Facebook or MySpace page has one good [...]

Apr

23

In America You Can’t Buy Justice. But You Can Rent It.

Posted by: Sean Samis | April 23, 2009 | 7 Comments

In our final Law Governing Lawyers class, we had an extended discussion of proposed ABA rules strongly encouraging—if not requiring—minimumpro bono work by members of the bar (or law school students). What prompted this was our reading on the unmet need for legal services.  Among the indigent, those seeking immigration or asylum, and the mentally ill, [...]

Apr

16

Reinstatement of a Wrongfully Discharged Lawyer?

Posted by: Michael K. McChrystal | April 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment

 
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued an interesting decision involving remedies for the discharge of in-house counsel in violation of the Equal Pay, Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act. Sands v. Menard, Inc., involved a claim by a lawyer terminated from her [...]

Apr

15

The Ten Commandments (of Billing)

Posted by: Andrea K. Schneider | April 15, 2009 | 6 Comments

As an exercise for my ethics class, I had each student write down his or her top ten commandments of billing.  My hope was that the students would both learn these rules and have them in a nice, easy place to find and print once they start practice. As the Ten Commandments was on this past weekend, it [...]

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