Supreme Court of Puerto Rico rejects proposal to adopt ABA Model Rules

After writing about the recent decision by the California Supreme Court to reject a proposal to adopt the ABA Model Rules, I realized that I had not commented on the fact that the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico had recently decided to do the same thing.

Even though it was approved in 1970, the current Code of Professional Conduct in Puerto Rico is essentially a translated and amended version of the ABA Canons of 1908 with some influence from the ABA Model Code.  And, even though the ABA abandoned the Model Code in favor of the Model Rules in 1983, Puerto Rico has not made any changes to its Code since it approved one amendment in 1980 (to update the canon regarding advertising).

In 2005, a Commission appointed by the Puerto Rico Bar Association to draft a new Code presented its proposal to adopt a new set of rules based on the ABA Model Rules.  However, for some unknown reason, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court sat on the proposal for eight years and then, without explanation, announced in an order last December that it rejected the proposal in its entirety. You can find the Court's order here (in Spanish).

Surprisingly, at the same time the Court also announced that there was another project that had already been prepared by the Judicial Conference.  You can find that project here.  The Court said it would consider the project this year, but given that it took it eight years to consider the previous one, it is difficult to know what to expect.

The new project is a very odd combination of materials based on sources from the ABA Model Code, the Model Rules and Codes from other countries.  It has sections called "canons" which read like they are meant to provide inspiration rather than regulation (like the "ethical considerations" of the Model Code) and sections called "rules" that attempt to provide more guidance for disciplinary matters.  In my opinion, the rejected project based on the Model Rules was much better, but it appears that one will not be revised now.

It remains to be seen what will happen.  There is a debate as to whether the new proposal is better than keeping the obviously inadequate current Code or whether the new proposal is so bad it should be rejected until a better one can be drafted.  When I first saw the documents, I felt that anything would be better than the current system, but the reporter of the recently rejected proposal to adopt the Model Rules almost has me convinced that it would be better to start from scratch.  The University of Puerto Rico Law School is considering putting together a conference on the subject and I have already agreed to be one of the speakers.  Get in touch with me if you want more information on this.

U.S. Department of Justice prohibits ineffective assistance of counsel waivers as part of plea bargains in federal criminal prosecutions

About two months ago I reported (here) that the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a very important opinion concluding that the use of ineffective assistance of counsel waivers in plea bargain agreements "(1) creates a non- waivable conflict of interest between the defendant and his attorney, (2) operates effectively to limit the attorney's liability for malpractice, and (3) induces, by the prosecutor's insertion of the waiver into plea agreements, an ethical breach by defense counsel."

Now comes news that four days ago the Justice Department officially decided that federal prosecutors are prohibited from requiring criminal defendants to waive their right to claim ineffective assistance of counsel a condition of a plea. Attorney General Eric H. Holder said the “policy is an attempt to ensure that all individuals who face criminal charges are ably represented. ‘Everyone in this country who faces criminal legal action deserves the opportunity to make decisions with the assistance of effective legal counsel…(u)nder this policy, no defendant will have to forego their right to able representation in the course of pleading guilty to a crime.’”

Here is a copy of the memo sent to all federal prosecutors.  The Lawyer Ethics Alert blog has more details here.

California Bar Pioneers Pre-Admission Competency Training for New Lawyers

About a year ago, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees charged the Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform with “[e]xamin[ing] whether the State Bar of California should develop a regulatory requirement for a pre-admission competency training program, and if so, proposing such a program” for submission to the Supreme Court.” After studying this issue for a year, the Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform released a report on June 24, 2013.  Legal Ethics in Motion has the full story here.  The report is available here.

Lawyers behaving badly

The headlines in today's ABA Journal online include the following stories:

Ex-judge gets 60 days and 6 months of house arrest for falsifying court records and prostitution

Lawyer who robbed 3 banks and shot state trooper gets 24 years

Ex-partner of law firm indicted, accused of aiding unlawful use of energy tax credits by clients

Judge apologizes for more than 200 sexually explicit emails sent from office

Disbarred lawyer who stole from his own mother and others gets 44 months in federal prison

What's going on?!

Better to ask for forgiveness or permission?

You may have heard the expression "better (easier?) to ask for forgiveness than to request permission" (or something to that effect), right?  Well, think again, if the question involves a disciplinary authority.  As reported by the Legal Profession blog:

An attorney who had been reinstated to practice on conditions admitted to violation of the conditions by handling criminal cases without supervision or malpractice insurance. He then sought to amend the conditions to allow for what he had already done. The Delaware Supreme Court denied the petition stating "The Court is troubled that the petitioner returned to private practice in a manner that violated the Court's Order in substantial, myriad ways without first seeking leave of the Court to modify the conditions of his reinstatement."

The story behind the California Supreme Court's rejection of the model rules

As I reported recently (here), the California Supreme Court has decided not to adopt a proposal for new rules of professional conduct. As you would expect, the decision has generated much commentary including a short comment by my friend Richard Zitrin (UC Hastings) in which he describes the background history of the Court and the Commission which helps understand the recently announced decision.  You can read the article online now here (subscription may be required) or in print tomorrow at The Recorder.   For more commentary on the situation go here and here. 

Connecticut Appellate Court holds that there is no duty to disclose exculpatory evidence

About a week ago, the Connecticut Appellate Court addressed a very interesting question that I have to confess I had not thought about before.  Now I want to do some research to see how it has been approached in other jurisdictions.

The question is whether the state has an obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence to an attorney as part of a disciplinary proceeding.  In this case, an attorney was disciplined, but he later argued that he was entitled to a new trial because bar counsel allegedly suppressed evidence that may have disproved the charge.  The court however held that Brady v. Maryland does not apply in bar disciplinary cases, stressing that Brady‘s applicability is limited to criminal prosecutions.  However, the court also hints that the argument was irrelevant in any case because the attorney in the case had knowledge of the evidence that he accused bar counsel of suppressing.

The case is Smigelski v. Dubois and you can read the decision here.

New ABA Ethics Opinion on sale of practice

The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 468 – Facilitating the Sale of a Law Practice. Here's the summary:

When a lawyer or law firm sells a law practice or an area of law practice under Rule 1.17, the seller must cease to engage in the private practice of law, or in the area of practice that has been sold, in the relevant jurisdiction or geographic area. But the selling lawyer or law firm may assist the buyer or buyers in the orderly transition of active client matters for a reasonable period after the closing of the sale. Neither the selling lawyer or law firm nor the purchasing lawyer or law firm may bill clients for time spent only on the transition of matters.

You can read the full opinion here.

Better Call Saul!

In case you are not familiar with Saul Goodman, here is his website.  Check it out.  My favorite ad is the one called "Sue 'em now."

Machine intelligence and legal services

Some time ago I asked whether it was likely that attorneys could be replaced by machines or computer programs.  Here is another post (with links to more) on that subject.