What should be the proper discipline for dishonesty on a resume?

When discussing the inconsistencies among states when it comes to disciplinary sanctions, I always tell my students that what they need to remember is that regardless of the conduct "you always risk disbarment" (simply because you never know what the authorities are going to do).

Now, this leads me to the question of the day.  Should an attorney be disbarred for embellishing his resume?

The ABA Journal is reporting today that a former Paul Hastings partner in London has been disbarred for embellishing his resume. He originally faced a three-year suspension, but the United Kingdom's Bar Standards Board imposed disbarment instead.

Are the authorities stricter (or the standards higher) in the UK?  I don't know about that, but I don't think an attorney would be disbarred in the US for just one instance of dishonesty on a resume.  Over the past few years, I wrote about a case in California where an attorney was suspended for using an outdated resume (here), and a case in Illinois where the attorney was suspended for altering a law school transcript in an attempt to get a job (here).  In that second case, I argued the attorney should have been disbarred because the conduct was particularly egregious in my opinion (and was not limited to the issue with the transcript).  Yet in the end the attorney was suspended for three years.  That is a pretty severe sanction, but it is not disbarment.

CNN story about rates of suicide among lawyers

Here is link to a story by CNN.com on suicide among lawyers. It states, in part

One by one, state by state, bar associations say the tally is rising: Lawyers are killing themselves. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided CNN with the latest available data on suicide deaths by profession. Lawyers ranked fourth when the proportion of suicides in that profession is compared to suicides in all other occupations in the study population (adjusted for age).They come right behind dentists, pharmacists and physicians.
Lawyers are also prone to depression, which the American Psychological Association, among others, identified as the most likely trigger for suicide. Lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from depression than non-lawyers.
....
CNN's review of 50 state bar associations found eight associations so concerned about suicides that they took measures to stop the deadly pattern. California, Montana, Iowa, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina added a "mental health" component to mandatory legal continuing education. Kentucky starts its annual conference on continuing education with a presentation on behaviors that increase the risk of suicide. So far, Kentucky has reached 7,000 lawyers.

In addition here is a short video on the story:


Thanks to the Legal Ethics Forum for the link.

Minimum sentences and prosecutorial discretion

Interesting short comment on how minimum sentencing laws result in more prosecutorial discretion and other dangerous effects on or criminal justice system.

What if a lawyer wanted to represent a Colorado-based business that sells marijuana in compliance with state law but in violation of federal law?

As discussed by Prof. Anita Bernstein at the Legal Ethics Forum: "A federal law, governing pretty much everyone, prohibits the possession and use of marijuana—even by medical patients with scripts from doctors. Some state laws defy this prohibition. DoJ has declared that, for now, it will look the other way from well-behaved adult users in those states. And every jurisdiction has a counterpart to Model Rule 1.2(d), which says lawyers who “counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in conduct the lawyer knows is criminal…” are subject to discipline." So can a lawyer ethically represent a Colorado-based business that sells marijuana in compliance with state law but in violation of federal law? Go here for the full discussion.

Yet another judge finds that government lawyers committed egregious misconduct

Just a few days ago I posted links to articles and editorials commenting on the many cases where judges have found prosecutorial misconduct.  This week the Blog of the Legal Times is reporting on yet another case involving misconduct of government lawyers.  In this case, a litigation that challenges how the Federal Bureau of Prisons treats inmates classified as terrorists, the judge stated that lawyers in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington committed "egregious misconduct" in their handling of discovery.  Go here for the full story.

Possible liability for referring a case to another attorney?

Just as with everything else, when an attorney refers a case to another attorney there is a duty to use reasonable care.  Here is a short review of the issue.

Ohio lawyers are not prohibited from soliciting potential clients via text messages

Is it ethical for attorney's to solicit clients by "texting"?  There has been some discussion on this recently and here is a post arguing against it. The big question is whether texting can be distinguished from using regular mail or e-mail which are protected speech subject to the limits imposed by the rules. I think texting does result in more of an invasion of privacy than regular mail or e-mail. Also, it can result in a minimal financial burden on the person who receives the message. However, I am not sure the difference in the level of invasion of privacy is enough to justify a different analysis and, as the story mentions, the lawyers are supposed to pay for the cost of the message - although it is not clear how this can be enforced.

The issue was in the news recently because of an Advisory Opinion of the Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline which states that Ohio lawyers are not prohibited from soliciting potential clients via text messages. The Advisory Opinion is available here and discussed here.

Are law firms buying bogus likes and followers?

Links to the story over at the Legal Ethics Forum.

Complying with Brady, from the prosecutor's perspective

There has been a lot of discussion of prosecutorial misconduct (here and elsewhere) during the past few years and most of it relates to prosecutors' failing to disclose evidence as required by Brady v. Maryland.  And, as readers of this blog know, I have been extremely critical of prosecutors who violate their duties and of judges to let them get away with it.  But we have not heard much from the prosecutors' perspective; so I was glad to see Prosecutor's Discretion, a prosecutor's blog I like to follow, post a comment on that.  In it he describes how sometimes the issue is not so clear cut.  Sometimes, there are multiple issues to consider and the choices the prosecutor has to make are not as easy as they might seem.  You can read the comment here.

Washington Post joins NY Times and Los Angeles Times on prosecutorial misconduct

Just a few days ago I commented on recent developments related to prosecutorial misconduct including links to articles in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.  Today, Seeking Justice is announcing that the Washington Post has added its voice to the chorus.