For the professors going to the ABA National Conference in San Antonio...

For those of you planning to attend the upcoming ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility in San Antonio, I would like to let you know of two activities organized by the Professional Responsibility section of the Association of American Law Schools.

First on May 30th at 12:05, the section will host a lunch for the law professors attending the conference at Michelinos. If you would like to attend PLEASE contact me at abernabe@jmls.edu before May 21st. We need an accurate count to make the reservation. 

Second, on June 1st at noon, Carol Needham will be moderating our annual Scholarship Roundtable. This will be an opportunity  to get together to discuss works in progress or recent articles. For information please send a message to Carol at needhamc@slu.edu with "Roundtable Speaking Slot" in the subject line.

I am looking forward to seeing you in San Antonio!

New York D.A. to Review 50 Murder Cases for Possible Wrongful Convictions

A NY Times Sunday front page article reports: The Brooklyn district attorney’s office has ordered a review of some 50 murder cases assigned to an acclaimed homicide detective, an acknowledgment of mounting questions about the officer’s tactics and the legitimacy of the convictions.  Seeking Justice has more on the story here.

Witness preparation and the uncontrollable witness

Prosectuor's Discretion has published a short comment by a prosecutor with some good advice on how to prepare a witness and the concerns over what he calls "uncontrollable witnesses."  The most interesting part of the comment relates to the concern over witnesses giving media interviews, which states, in part, "[i]t is never a good idea for a witness to give media interviews. The interviews are taped and are now prior statements where even the slightest misstatement may come back to haunt them at trial. The more interviews, the more possible inconsistencies. Plus, a person's hidden past might emerge once the media begins digging."  Go here to read the full comment.

The one thing I would add to the advice is to remind client's and witnesses about the risks of using social media.  It is surprising how many people post things on Facebook and other sites not realizing it how easily their comments can be read by others!

Prosecutorial misconduct

I have often commented on how it is important for courts to take prosecutorial misconduct seriously.  What incentive is there to stop acting improperly, if courts give the conduct a pass?

Seeking Justice, a blog I discovered recently on prosecutorial misconduct, agrees with me.  Commenting on the case in Texas where the former prosecutor is facing charges for not having disclosed exculpatory evidence, Seeking Justice states that prosecution of prosecutors is a rarity, but it has to be done.  It concludes that "we urge all attorneys who seek justice to demand that prosecutors be held to the highest standards and abide by the laws they swear to uphold.  Anything less renders any notion of  Justice a farce."

I couldn't agree more.  See the full story here.

New Arizona opinion on Groupon for lawyers

Long time readers of this blog will remember previous posts on whether it is permissible for lawyers to use pre-paid discount services like Groupon to advertise and finance their legal services.  There are a number of state opinions out there now but there does not seem to be a general consensus on the matter.  The NY Bar Association has approved participating in Groupon (see here), as have North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland (see here).  On the other hand, the Alabama State Disciplinary Commission has ruled attorneys can't use Groupon (see here).

And now, the State Bar of Arizona has issued the most recent opinion on the subject.  It found that although perhaps not impossible, it would be very difficult for an attorney to justify participating in Groupon given all the rules that would be implicated.  For a discussion of, and a link to, this new opinion you can check out the discussion over at the Legal Ethics Forum. You can access the opinion here.

Advice from a public defender: what to say when the DA insists you agree to the amount of bail the DA wants

Go here for the answer.

Seeking Justice: a blog dedicated to prosecutorial misconduct

Thanks to the Legal Ethics Forum, I recently found out about a blog called Seeking Justice which is dedicated to commenting on issues of prosecutorial misconduct.  It describes itself as a blog that "exists to provide both a source of current information and a forum for those who have experienced or  witnessed misconduct by federal prosecutors in particular.  We are especially interested in seeking reform of the legal system in the way it deals with “Brady violations” or the prosecutors’ suppression of evidence favorable to the defense."  You should check out Seeking Justice here.

The Atlantic: "What is the most important Supreme Court case no one's ever heard of?"

The Atlantic Magazine asked a number of "experts" (law professors, lawyers, judges, authors, etc) for their opinion on the most important, yet not widely known, Supreme Court case.  Their responses are very interesting and you can read them here.  One author picked Strickland v. Washington, stating that

Decided in 1984, Strickland v. Washington created a procedural rule that makes it virtually impossible for a criminal defendant to successfully argue that he or she has been denied the “effective assistance” of counsel—and thus the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. The ruling is directly responsible for thousands of Americans’ incarceration after trials in which their lawyers drank, or were using drugs, or were sleeping, or were otherwise clearly incompetent.

New article and debate about the problem of the client who intends to commit perjury

Over at the the Legal Ethics Forum, an article by Richard Zitrin has ignited the never ending debate as to what to do when a criminal defendant client wants to commit perjury.  It is well worth taking a look at here and here.

Illinois disciplinary annual report

The Illinois Attorney Registration Commission has posted its Annual Report for 2011. As usual, it has a lot of useful information about complaints, investigations and sanctions broken down by age, gender, practice setting, areas of law and other factors.

One interesting fact from the report:  almost 3/4 of the disciplined attorneys were solo practitioners. 


Thanks to the Legal Profession blog for the link.