The Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic

 

I was pleased to attend the induction ceremony for students earning membership in the Pro Bono Society last evening in Eisenberg Hall.  Students who logged 60 hours of non-credit public service work during law school are eligible.  Sixteen students were separately honored for logging at least 120 hours.  It was a lovely evening, with Dean Kearney recognizing the importance of both the learned and service aspects of the law.  I was there to support and recognize those students who spent many of those hours at the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, with which I have been involved since its inception.  I could not have been more proud of these talented, committed students.

Looking for an outlet for myself several years back after retiring from private practice, I was fortunate enough to stumble into this project at its inception.  In my first post I talked about what a wonderful collaboration the pot luck dinners shared by all the women in my class were–supportive, helpful and fun.  Well, collaboration has served me well over and over again in my career as a lawyer, particularly so with the MVLC.  In 2001, two students approached the Pro Bono Committee of the Association for Women Lawyers, seeking help with an idea.  As I like to say, we naively took it on.

Continue ReadingThe Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic

Marquette Law Alum Major Deon Green on WUWM’s “Lake Effect” Program

Our alum, United States Army Major Deon Green (Law 1997), was recently interviewed on WUWM’s “Lake Effect” radio program.  Maj. Green is a member of the JAG Corps and serves as the principal legal advisor to the Commanding General of the Third Sustainment Command Expeditionary in Iraq. The Third Sustainment Expeditionary handles all of the logistics and supplies for the 144,000 troops serving in Iraq. As the principal legal advisor, Major Green directs a team of fifty attorneys and legal assistants who address a broad array of issues—from contract questions to offering legal advice to troops serving in Iraq.  

Continue ReadingMarquette Law Alum Major Deon Green on WUWM’s “Lake Effect” Program

Bad Law Makes Tragic Cases: Is Rule 1.6 Unethical?

I am just finishing up Law Governing Lawyers with Prof. Schneider.  I did wonder before the class first met why the course was not called something like “Legal Ethics”; after all, even our text is entitled “Ethical Problems in the Practice of Law” by Lerman and Schrag.

It didn’t take long to discover that the law governing lawyers, while usually ethical, occasionally requires behaviors that cannot possibly be squared with any ethical system.

The one that stands out most is Rule 1.6 in the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility.  In Wisconsin, this Rule is codified as SCR 20:1.6 Confidentiality.

(a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, except for disclosures that are impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation, and except as stated in pars. (b) and (c).

[paragraphs (b) and (c) omitted.]

The rationale behind the Rule is that effective representation depends on the client’s candid communication with his or her attorney, which depends on trusting the attorney to keep the client’s confidences.  Everyone has a right to fair treatment by the law ensured by effective representation.  I get that, and at first glance, there is no apparent ethical dilemma.  If clients tell their attorneys about ongoing or impending criminal acts, paragraphs (b) and (c) require or allow reporting.

But deeper reflection in class drew out a serious ethical dilemma from tragic cases in which lawyers are given information about past crimes, which does not fit the given exceptions and withholding of which is difficult to justify.  The most tragic cases are child killers whose victims have not been found.  When the killers tell their attorneys where the bodies are, can the attorneys be compelled tell the families or the police?  From several cases, the answer is ‘No’.

Continue ReadingBad Law Makes Tragic Cases: Is Rule 1.6 Unethical?