The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
A Modern Legal Ethics proposes a wholesale renovation of legal ethics, one that contributes to ethical thought generally. Daniel Markovits reinterprets the positive law governing lawyers to identify fidelity as its organizing ideal. Unlike ordinary loyalty, fidelity requires lawyers to repress their personal judgments concerning the truth and justice of their clients' claims. Next, the book asks what it is like--not psychologically but ethically--to practice law subject to the self-effacement that fidelity demands. Fidelity requires lawyers to lie and to cheat on behalf of their clients. However, an ethically profound interest in integrity gives lawyers reason to resist this characterization of their conduct. Any legal ethics adequate to the complexity of lawyers' lived experience must address the moral dilemmas immanent in this tension. The dominant approaches to legal ethics cannot. Finally, A Modern Legal Ethics reintegrates legal ethics into political philosophy in a fashion commensurate to lawyers' central place in political practice. Lawyerly fidelity supports the authority of adjudication and thus the broader project of political legitimacy. Throughout, the book rejects the casuistry that dominates contemporary applied ethics in favor of an interpretive method that may be mimicked in other areas. Moreover, because lawyers practice at the hinge of modern morals and politics, the book's interpretive insights identify--in an unusually pure and intense form--the moral and political conditions of all modernity.
Trial by jury is one of the most important aspects of the U.S. legal system. A reflective look at how juries actually function brings out a number of ethical questions surrounding juror conduct and jury dynamics: Do citizens have a duty to serve as jurors? Might they seek exemptions? Is it acceptable for jurors to engage in after-hours research? Might a juror legitimately seek to "nullify" the outcome to express disapproval of the law? Under what conditions might jurors make a valid choice to hold out against or capitulate to their fellow jurors? Is it acceptable to form alliances? After trial, are there problems with entering into publishing contracts? Unfortunately, questions such as these have received scant attention from scholars. This book revives attention to these and other issues of jury ethics by collecting new and insightful essays along with responses from leading scholars in the field of jury studies. Is it acceptable for jurors to engage in after-hours research? Might a juror legitimately seek to "nullify" the outcome to express disapproval of the law? After trial, are there problems with entering into publishing contracts? Unfortunately, questions such as these have received scant attention from scholars. This book revives attention to these and other issues of jury ethics by collecting new and insightful essays along with responses from leading scholars in the field of jury studies. Contributors: Jeffrey Abramson, B. Michael Dann, Shari Seidman Diamond, Norman J. Finkel, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, Julie E. Howe, Nancy J. King, John Kleinig, James P. Levine, Candace McCoy, G. Thomas Munsterman, Maureen O'Connor, Steven Penrod, Alan W. Scheflin, Neil Vidmar
Ethics and Criminal Law is a comprehensive survey of the ethical issues facing criminal lawyers. Topics covered include: defending a client known to be guilty; choosing and refusing clients; decision-making in criminal litigation; the duty of confidentiality and its exceptions; conflict of interest; client perjury; interviewing and preparing witnesses; plea discussions; handling incriminating physical evidence; termination of the client-lawyer relationship; and the special duties of Crown counsel. The second edition provides an invaluable update, with hundreds of new case citations, references to the latest commentary, and analysis of the new codes of professional conduct from Canadian law societies. It also explores new topics including whether an implied undertaking attaches to criminal disclosure; the Lyttlerequirement that cross-examinations be conducted in good faith; communicating with testifying witnesses; law office searches post-Lavallee; client confidentiality and new technology; the benefits and pitfalls of defence counsel contacting a complainant; the propriety of defence investigations that focus on confidential informants or involve trickery; withdrawing from a case pursuant to Cunningham; the proper role of Crown counsel at the investigative stage of a proceeding; the scope of prosecutorial discretion after Kriegerand Anderson; and the impact of Nixonon Crown counsel's ability to repudiate a plea agreement.
"While many people", says Schmalleger, "the public and criminal justice professionals included, believe they lead ethical lives, they may find themselves, when pressed, hard put to define exactly what ethics is. Most definitions equate ethics with morality, and avow that the study of ethics is to be primarily concerned with behavior and the standards of right and wrong which govern behavior. Beyond the definitional level, however, agreement is difficult to achieve. The plurality of norms and values applicable to behavior among diverse social groups in our multi-cultural society complicate any ethical discussion. Attempts at specifying ethical codes or enumerating the values upon which such codes should be based are bound to meet with vigorous debate. This overview of ethical instruction in criminal justice today is intended to offer a description of teaching strategies and curricular goals. Many of the articles in this volume will maintain a theme of how ethics can best be taught to students of criminal justice and how society at large can best learn the same lessons. Other selections herein offer in-depth analysis of particular ethical dilemmas or aspects of professional life.
Thousands of complaints are filed against Louisiana lawyers each year. Many are caused by simple mistakes and innocent misunderstandings about what the rules of conduct require. For straightforward answers to professional responsibility questions, get Louisiana Legal Ethics: Standards & Commentary (2021), a comprehensive source for Louisiana legal ethics rules, cases, and indispensable practical advice. Updated for 2021 with more than 40 new reported decisions and ethics opinions. Prof. Dane S. Ciolino edits and annotates this book. He serves as the Alvin R. Christovich Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he teaches legal ethics, advocacy, and evidence.
This definitive resource for information about lawyer ethics has been updated and expanded to include all the amendments the ABA made to the Model Rules in 2002.
Following on the success of its First Edition which was praised for its comprehensive coverage and flexible organization, Criminal Justice Ethics, Second Edition continues to explore ethical dilemmas faced by criminal justice professionals and discusses how they might be resolved, covering codes of ethics for various players and providing applied examples in the form of illustrative real-life case boxes. The Second Edition also retains the unique, praised organizational style of the previous edition-covering the interaction of ethics and the criminal justice system in Part I to lay a foundation for the ethical theories and perspectives introduced in Part II. New to this Edition Includes a new chapter in the Second Edition: "Ethics and the War on Terrorism" explores the very timely topic of terrorism, covering definitions of terrorism, restrictions of rights in the interests of national security, and the ethics of torture. Provides expanded treatment of important topics and offers global perspectives where appropriate: Readers will find more coverage of transparency and accountability in the criminal justice system and more comparative discussions showing how ethical challenges are addressed in other countries. Offers updated information throughout with a more accessible interior design and more robust pedagogy: Expanded coverage of timely topics and issues that impact the contemporary criminal justice system, including prostitution, drug abuse, abortion, homosexuality, human rights, terrorism, and the Patriot Act; a more appealing visual design; and helpful pedagogical features such as key terms, end-of-chapter cases and new feature boxes enhance student learning w