JD Journal » ethics

Ethics Concerns Scuttle Massachussetts Clerkship Plan

joshua — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:45:42 +0000

It seemed like a match made in heaven – thanks to a struggling economy, Massachusetts was unable to fill all of the judicial clerkships for the year, and there is a growing number of deferred associates in Massachusetts being paid a stipend but with no work to do. Why not pair them up? Massachusetts planned to do just that, with the blessings of the firms paying the stipends. But after an undisclosed letter from the state ethics commission reached Robert Mulligan, who is the chief justice for administration and management of the trial courts, Massachusetts has dropped the idea due to ethical concerns. Even with a proposed double blind system preventing judges from knowing which firms had donated deferred associates or who their clerks were paid by, concerns over favor currying and influence were enough to shut the idea down.

Unfortunately, this leaves the state’s court system short about 50 clerks and the state can’t afford to hire them.

ABA Offers Free Suicide Prevention Info

Erik Even — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:40:46 +0000

With two recent attorney suicides, and one from December just now announced, all probably spurred to the economic downturn, the American Bar Association is making available free information about legal industry suicides.

What Lawyers Need to Know About Suicide During a Recession: Prevention, Identity and Law Firm Responsibility is a free MP3 audio download available here.

From the ABA:

Suicide is our most preventable form of death. Many attorneys are in frequent contact with populations at elevated risk for suicide. In their professional roles, attorneys occupy a strategic position to intercept suicidal communications and identify and refer potentially suicidal clients, as well as employees and colleagues, for professional assessment and possible life-saving treatment. In addition Model Rule 1.14 gives the attorney broad power and responsibility when representing clients with diminished capacity.

Attorneys also have the highest rates of depression and suicide of any profession. Statistics suggest that the rate of suicide attempts among attorneys and their clients is increasing as the effects of the recession widen.

This program addresses the ethical responsibility employers have to assist attorneys in their employ that may be suicidal.

The complimentary download is cosponsored by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.

Former Congressman Joins K & L Gates in DC

Erik Even — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:31:28 +0000

One month after retiring from a 20-year stint in Congress, former Representative James Walsh has begun work as a government affairs counselor for the DC office of K&L Gates.

Walsh will advise clients about working with all levels of government, drawing on his experience as chairman of several House Appropriations subcommittees during his 10-term career in Congress.

Walsh, 61, will be banned under congressional ethics rules from lobbying any member of the House or Senate, or their staffs, for one year after leaving office.

Walsh said he has no plans to return to politics.

K&L Gates LLP is a US law firm with over 1700 attorneys worldwide and is ranked as the 10th largest law firm in the world.

Former Dreier Partners Could Face Liability

Erik Even — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:41:45 +0000

The New York Law Journal has consulted with experts, and finds that lawyers who fled Dreier LLP as soon as they heard that founder Marc Dreier was arrested and indicted could face legal problems of their own:

The departed partners might be held liable for any of the firm’s debts, and also face disciplinary action for any missing escrow funds. Further, they might be asked to return income they received from clients for work on unfinished matters they took with them when they left the now-defunct firm…

“When law firms dissolve, the court wants one thing and one thing only. They want money put back in the estate to pay back the creditors,” especially when there are clients who have lost money, said an attorney who specializes in law firm ethics and professional responsibility who asked to remain unnamed.

“In connection with partners in law firms, the interplay between the limited liability statute and the bankruptcy law is not entirely clear so that any partner who was being held out to the public as a partner is under some risk of having liability,” he added.

Read the whole story.

Lawyer Forgot She Was Suspended, Argued Before CA Supreme Court

Erik Even — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:37:14 +0000

The California Supreme Court has removed Cynthia Thomas from the death penalty case of Charles Moore, and referred her to the State Bar for disciplinary proceedings. The court says Thomas argued Moore’s case before the Court on December 2nd while ineligible to practice law.

Thomas says she “failed to realize” she hadn’t been fully reinstated to the Bar, after being suspended in 2007 for not advising a client of his legal options in a separate criminal case. Although she had fulfilled the one-month suspension in that case, she hadn’t passed the State Bar’s ethics examination, which is a requirement for permanent reinstatement.

A graduate of the UC Davis School of Law, Thomas told the Supreme Court she had failed the ethics exam in August. She took the test again in November, but was not notified she had failed again until December 6th, four days after the oral argument.

“I do not believe that my suspension at the time of oral argument,” she said, “resulted in any actual compromise in the quality of representation afforded Mr. Moore.”

The high court disagreed, and has terminated Thomas’ representation.

Moore was sentenced to death on April 11, 1984, for the brutal stabbing deaths of Robert and Marie Crumb in their Long Beach apartment in 1977.

Government Lawyer Uses US Marshals as Chauffeurs to Sports Events

Erik Even — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:40:26 +0000

Joseph Band, who was a lawyer in the US Marshals Service’s Office of the General Counsel, enlisted deputy marshals to ferry him and others, including famous broadcasters, to and from sporting events in government vehicles, according to a report released today by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine.

Band allegedly attended a variety of sporting events, such as the 2007 World Series in Boston, the 2007 college football championship game and the 2008 Super Bowl, both in Phoenix, and a 2008 NFL playoff game in Tampa, acting as a Fox Sports statistician. Broadcasters Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Troy Aikman accepted the rides in government vehicles.

The report concludes that Band, who was a member of the USMS ethics team, violated the service’s policy and standards of ethical conduct. But the US attorney’s offices in Boston and the Eastern District of Virginia declined criminal prosecution. A spokeswoman for the USMS says Band has resigned, though she did not say when.

Band, who has worked part-time as a statistician for the Washington Redskins for about 30 years, has also done work for various networks besides Fox, including ESPN and CBS.

Band’s lawyer, Jacob Stein of Stein, Mitchell & Muse, said his client had no “control, knowledge or decision making discretion with respect to the use of any government vehicle or government personnel.”

Via BLT.

Laptops Good for Law Students

Erik Even — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:56:29 +0000

From the 2008 Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) [PDF], published by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University at Bloomington: while many law schools (and other post-secondary schools) are banning laptops from the classroom, this might be a mistake.

Laptop computer use and its educational implications have sometimes generated heated debate among legal educators. LSSSE findings show that student use of laptops for keeping and reviewing notes and calling up previously briefed cases goes together with high levels of engagement in courses. So when used effectively, laptops may well enhance learning, rather than being a substitute for other kinds of course engagement or simply a distraction.

Also from the report: More than 90% of 1L students regularly come to class prepared, but only 75% of 3Ls do so. And 18% of students feel that their law school contributes very little to developing a personal code of values and ethics.

BTW, did anyone else notice that the LSSSE authors forgot to pay for their images? Oops.

Via The Chronicle of Higher Education via The UW Law Library.

Paralegal Impersonated Attorney in Family Court

Erik Even — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:37:24 +0000

A lawyer who sent his paralegal to a court hearing where she advocated for a client should be censured, a Disciplinary Review Board has ruled.

Both the District VIII Ethics Committee and the DRB have determined that attorney Neal Pomper of Highland Park, New Jersey, breached the Rules of Professional Conduct, assisting the unauthorized practice of law, and violated ethics rules.

Pomper sent paralegal Larissa Sufaru to a hearing in Somerset County Family Part in May 2006, with client Bruce Finney, whom Pomper represented in a child support matter. At the hearing, Sufaru identified herself as a lawyer, entered an appearance on the record, allowed herself to be addressed as “counselor” without objecting and advocated for Finney on the support issue.

The DRB opinion did not explain how it became known that Sufaru was not an attorney.

Pomper claimed Finney was awaiting the result of a blood test to determine paternity and he thought the hearing would address only that issue and not child support. Finney had asked the court to put off the support hearing until paternity was resolved. The notice for a “hearing after blood test” stated, “You may bring an attorney with you, although an attorney is not required.”

Even if there was confusion, nonlawyers are also not allowed to represent clients at paternity hearings.

Pomper testified he had “severely admonished” Sufaru for going ahead with the support hearing and had “taken steps” to prevent a recurrence. He also refunded Finney’s $750 retainer.

Via NJ Law Journal.