Professional Responsibility Blog

Here is the link to an article on fictional lawyers, from movies and novels, and the ethical issues they faced.

The newly adopted rule is available here.

The Center for Prosecutor Integrity has just issued this press release , announcing the the receipt of a grant to establish a Registry of P...

A few minutes ago I posted a note on a recent case on prosecutorial misconduct.  I then found a comment on the case (and more general issues...

The Legal Ethics Forum recently posted a link to a story in the Connecticut Law Tribune about a decision of the state's supreme court...

In March of 2012, the TV show 60 Minutes had a segment on the controversy over the conduct of a former Texas prosecutor who was accused of f...

About a week ago we discussed in class how a prosecutor must perform three different roles in one.  Prosecutors are part of the law enforcem...

A few basic tips here .  My students will appreciate the first rule under "school rules."

Earlier I posted the video of the oral argument in the Stephen Glass case and a link to the briefs in the case. My take on the oral argu...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has announced revisions to its Rules of Professional Conduct.  The Legal Profession blog has more informatio...

Earlier tonight I posted the video of the oral argument in the Stephen Glass case.  Here is a link to an article where you can find the bri...

Earlier today, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the petition for admission of Stephen Glass. The video appears below. ...

Bar associations and other state authorities have been issuing opinions on whether it is permissible for lawyers to use pre-paid discount ...

Eearlier this week the New York Daily News reported on a recently filed claim alleging that energy drink Red Bull contributed to the death o...

This chart was created by Matt Homman and there is a comment about it in Real Lawyers Have Blogs

Go here for some good advice.

The "a public defender blog" has posted a story on the reality of practice of criminal defense in some courts.  In fact, this is (...

The Legal Talk Network has a 25 minute podcast on the issue of whether ghost blogging is ethical here (or here ).

One of the topics I cover in my class is the notion of limits of proper argument.  I assign a series of cases that discuss whether it is pro...

Last Saturday I posted a video in which the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit severely criticized the conduct of a district attorney...

Here is a link to a recent article in the Huffington Post that discusses the fact that the names of misbehaving prosecutors are rarely if e...

Back in 2008 I wrote an article for a symposium on professionalism in which I tried to reduce the notion of professionalism to some basic e...

Are you interested in new ideas on how to change and improve our justice system?  If so, take a look at the Innovating Justice Forum   of th...

Back in 2007, in a case called Dowling v. Chicago Options Associates , the Illinois Supreme Court recognized something it called an “advance...

The Indiana Disciplinary Commission recently recommended a one year suspension without automatic reinstatement for an attorney based on the ...

I previously reported that the California legislature approved a bill that would allow undocumented aliens to join the California bar (see h...

Long time readers of this blog know that I often complain how courts do not seem to take the problem of prosecutorial misconduct seriously. ...

The Legal Ethics Forum has some more links here .

Yesterday I posted some links on the recent reversal of a conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct.  Today Seeking Justice has posted a lo...

Describing the conduct of Justice Department lawyers as “grotesque,” U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt ordered a new trial for officers ac...

In class we discuss some cases on the question of whether an attorney can or should disciplined for expressing offensive opinions or for mak...

Last year I posted a few links to articles on the debate on whether undocumented immigrant should be allowed to practice law (in Californi...

Just a few minutes ago I posted a note about a recent case from the Fourth Circuit on prosecutorial misconduct.  Here is another comment on...

I hate to sound like a broken record, but here I go again:  prosecutors will continue to break the rules unless courts begin to take the pro...

The Legal Ethics Forum is sponsoring an essay writing competition with cash prizes.  Go here for details. 

A couple of days ago I posted a note on a recent complaint filed alleging an attorney disclosed confidential information when replying to a...

Professional Liability Matters (blog) has a short comment with practical advice on how to handle a problem client here .

The Legal Profession Blog is reporting that the Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging that an attorney violated her duty o...

Last year I posted a few links to articles on the debate on whether undocumented immigrant should be allowed to practice law (in California)...

Here is the story . Could a lawyer be disciplined for similar conduct? 

Last month I posted a few links to other blogs and an op-ed piece on the issue of intra-firm privilege.  See here .  The Legal Ethics Forum ...

Here is a report on the elected public defender in Florida I mentioned in my previous post.  Also here is a clip from Action News:

I must confess I did not know that in some jurisdictions the Public Defender is an elected position.  Wow!  I find that hard to believe.  Th...

I have more than once complained about the lack of common sense when it comes to rules related to advertising lawyers' "specialties...

Just a few days ago, the Missouri Supreme Court issued an opinion that raises an interesting question.  Here is the story, in a nutshell:  s...

The Huffington Post has published a story on an issue I have written about many times: the lack of accountability for prosecutorial miscond...

Here is a link to a recent article on issues related to social media and the practice of law.  Among other things, it comments on an ethics...

For those of you who used to rely on Google Reader, or those of you who prefer to get notices of the posts as they are posted throughout the...

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin is reporting today that Gov. Patrick J. Quinn has signed legislation that will make Illinois the second stat...

I have written many times before on the concept of flat fees and whether they can be non refundable. See here , here and here , for examp...

I recently posted a comment critical of a decision from Washington DC in which the Office of Bar Counsel recommended only an admonition for...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently held in a disciplinary proceeding ( In re Riek ) that prosecutors' ethical obligation to disclose ...

A group of Democratic lawmakers has reintroduced a bill that would require Supreme Court justices to comply with the same ethics rules tha...

Here is a link to a recent New York Times article on whether it is proper for character and fitness committees to ask about candidates'...

A few days ago, I commented on a case in Washington DC where the Office of Bar Counsel's recommendation of censure for prosecutorial mi...

Last month, the lawyers for New Hampshire’s only inmate on death row filed a motion to disqualify the entire Attorney General’s office from ...

If you are a long time reader of this blog, you know that I have asked before for an explanation as to the notion of moral turpitude in Wash...

I have never understood why it is so difficult for courts to recognize claims for emotional distress in cases where the plaintiff does not s...

The New Jersey Supreme Court has reversed a conviction because a state prosecutor's office violated its post-indictment discovery obli...

I have complained repeatedly on this blog about how regulatory agencies and courts do not take prosecutorial misconduct seriously enough; ab...

"A Public Defender" is reporting that Alaska has decided to limit prosecutorial discretion to negotiate plea agreements in certain...

Last month I reported that the Massachusets Supreme Court recently found that confidential communications between law firm attorneys and a ...

Here is the most recent addition to our running list of examples of how NOT to practice law . This is one we have seen before and it should...

I often complain that courts do not take prosecutorial misconduct seriously enough.  To its credit, The Connecticut Law Tribune does.  It re...

Jonathan Turley has posted his opinion on the conduct of the District Attorney in charge of the Zimmerman prosecution.  He states that the D...

Again, as expected there are more comments on the Zimmerman verdict.  Here are links to some I saw today (with brief quotes to give you an ...

There are a lot of stories out there about lawyers looking for evidence in clients' and opponents' Facebook pages, so it is interest...

Yesterday I wrote that we would see many comments on the Zimmerman verdict in the next few days.  Here are links to some I saw today: USA ...

A few days ago I reported that a new decision from Massachusets recently held that confidential communications between law firm attorneys ...

I am sure we will see lots of comments on the Zimmerman case in the next few days.  Here is a link to a short comment (with lots of links t...

I recently posted a story about a developing story about perjury in New York.  The story continues...    Go here for the latest.

The Legal Profession blog is reporting ( here ) on an important new decision from Massachusets on whether confidential communications betwe...

It seems that the e mail update service is functioning properly again. If you signed up yesterday (Tuesday, 7/10) you should have received...

Thank you to all the readers who have signed up again for e-mail updates. Unfortunately, I did not get an update this morning either so I ...

I have complained in the past about New Jersey's repeated failures to properly sanction unethical conduct.  See here and here , for exa...

Eric Turkewitz continues his coverage of a developing story in New York, where a judge recently found a physician who has made a career te...

Something happened to the blog yesterday and the e-mail subscriptions function stopped working. I fixed the problem, but unfortunately, if y...

Eric Turkewitz continues his coverage of a developing story in New York, where a judge recently found a physician who has made a career test...

JOTWELL has a good book review of W. Bradley Wendel's Lawyers and Fidelity to Law (Princeton University Press, 2010).  I have not read ...

Last year I posted a few comments about a case in which 3M Corporation sued the law firm Covington and Burling arguing that the law firm vio...

Prof. Monroe Freedman has posted this interesting question at the Legal Ethics Forum:  A lawyer who represents both civil and criminal clien...

Last February, I reported that the ABA approved a resolution encouraging lawyers to consider providing unbundled legal services when appropr...