ABA Ethics 20/20 Asks: Should Lawyers Have More Leeway to Practice Across State/Country Lines?

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 is expanding the scope of its look into possible changes in rules governing cross-border practice by lawyers. Today, the commission released an issues paper (PDF) that seeks comment on two more approaches to dealing with cross-border practice. One option, according to the discussion draft,…

Mar 30, 2011 10:19 PM CDT

Civil Gideon in Deadbeat Dad Cases Would Be ‘Massive’ Change, Lawyer Tells Justices

A constitutional requirement for a lawyer in civil contempt cases against parents who don’t pay child support would be a “massive” change, a lawyer argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. At issue is whether Michael Turner had a due-process right to an appointed lawyer when he was sentenced…

Mar 24, 2011 2:12 PM CDT

Sotomayor Follows Witness Prep Advice in Deflecting Question on Supreme Court Recusals

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was careful to avoid a simmering controversy over Supreme Court recusals when answering audience questions on Friday after receiving a diversity award from the Philadelphia Bar Association. The recusal questioner was Abraham Reich, co-chairman of Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia and a member of the ABA House of…

Mar 17, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

ABA Survey: Underfunding the Courts Is Hurting the Economy & Impacts Public Safety

There’s a strong perception that the nation’s courts are underfunded, leading to a negative impact on the economy and public safety as well as access to the justice system, according to an informal study of lawyers and judges conducted by the ABA. Key findings of the survey are that 68…

Mar 16, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

US News to Law Deans: Please Don’t Fudge Your Numbers

Updated: U.S. News & World Report has sent a letter to law deans asking them to please be truthful when reporting data to the magazine for its law school rankings. The entreaty comes about a month after the new law dean of Villanova University admitted the school had reported inaccurate…

Mar 11, 2011 4:40 PM CST

Law Exempting Lawyers from ‘Red Flags Rule’ Makes ABA Suit Moot, DC Circuit Says

An ABA suit challenging application of identity theft regulations to lawyers is moot as a result of an exemption granted by Congress last December, a federal appeals court has ruled. The ABA had lobbied hard for the congressional action. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled (PDF)…

Mar 4, 2011 4:52 PM CST

Economics and Culture Both Put Their Stamp on Ethics Rules in Tribal Courts

One of the notable trends in the legal ethics field over the past several years has been a gradual movement toward more uniformity in the substance and application of professional conduct rules. There is little, if any, expectation that the states will fall into complete lockstep on how they apply…

Mar 1, 2011 9:43 AM CST

Witnesses Describe State and Local Courts Reeling from Budget Cutbacks

State judges go without health insurance, courts beg for freebies, clerks refuse filings, civil trials are suspended. Tales recounted by a parade of witnesses on the opening day of the 2011 ABA Midyear Meeting in Atlanta painted a disturbing picture of how courts around the U.S. are being affected by…

Mar 1, 2011 8:40 AM CST

Litigation Lending Makes Its Case

One business that appears to be gaining some traction in the current recessionary climate is alternative litigation financing. Several representatives of that industry told the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 that their products help litigants who lack financial resources to meet basic needs while their claims wend their way through…

Mar 1, 2011 8:30 AM CST

Midyear Attendees Get Special Showing of Robert Redford’s New Film ‘The Conspirator’

Robert Redford directs James McAvoy. An unusual must-do took midyear meeting attendees slightly off script, as they took in special viewings of The Conspirator, a soon-to-be-released film that tells the little-known story of Mary Surratt and the young lawyer who represented her on charges of conspiring to assassinate President Abraham…

Mar 1, 2011 8:20 AM CST

Future Law: Rethink Client Needs, or Else

Law practice is changing so fast and so dramatically that wholesale groups of lawyers either need to change how they operate or face finding another line of business. That’s according to an American Bar Foundation-sponsored panel that gathered to discuss “The Future of Lawyering” at the midyear meeting in Atlanta.…

Mar 1, 2011 8:10 AM CST

Value Billing: Plunging In

When value billing comes up among lawyers, David Boies is reminded of the little boy standing at the edge of a swimming pool telling everyone he’s going to jump in. “He keeps saying, ‘I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it,’ and it’s the same thing with law…

Mar 1, 2011 8:00 AM CST

Bellows: ABA Should Be a Part of Public Debates

ABA president-elect nominee Laurel Bellows told the ABA House of Delegates meeting in Atlanta that the association should address the balance of individual liberties and national security in a more direct, forceful manner than it has in recent years. The House will make Bellows’ selection as president-elect official in August…

Mar 1, 2011 7:50 AM CST

ABA Notices

DELEGATE-AT-LARGE ELECTION Pursuant to § 6.5 of the ABA Constitution, six Delegates-at-Large to the House of Delegates will be elected at the 2011 Annual Meeting for three-year terms beginning with the adjournment of that meeting and ending with the adjournment of the 2014 Annual Meeting. Candidates for election as Delegate-at-Large…

Mar 1, 2011 7:45 AM CST

Lawyers Giving Back

Mar 1, 2011 6:03 AM CST