from staff
Can the legal profession prevent the kind of prosecutorial abuse committed by former Durham County, North Carolina District Attorney Michael Nifong, who brought false sexual abuse charges against Duke University lacrosse players?
What is the best way for courts to deal with situations like that which prompted a federal judge in Philadelphia to fine a lawyer and his client more than $29,000 in March? The judge cited the client for being “hostile, uncivil and vulgar” during a deposition, and cited the lawyer for doing nothing to control his client’s behavior.
These questions represent the kinds of challenges that will be addressed at the 34th National Conference on Professional Responsibility May 28-31 and the 24th National Forum on Client Protection May 30-31, both at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. The annual events, sponsored by the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility, draw lawyers, judges and legal academics from across the country. They convene to gain the latest insights on developments related to lawyer and judicial ethics and discipline, and measures to protect the interests of legal clients.
Numerous programs will tackle concerns of the public, such as why and how lawyers represent clients who rouse deep public enmity, and whether the public is well-served by attempts to regulate lawyer advertising on the Internet. Some programming will focus on the concerns facing law firm management, like creating a culture that supports compliance with ethics rules, competence and best practices in client relations, instead of simply avoiding liability for shortcomings.
Other sessions will target individual needs, such as overcoming psychological factors that induce young lawyers to obey instructions from a superior that may be unethical or illegal. Substantive legal topics on the table include changes in lawyer duties to organizational clients and ethical implications of lawyer adversaries collaborating to solve problems. The client protection forum will address client-lawyer fee arbitration, disclosure by lawyers of whether they carry professional liability insurance and claims seeking reimbursement from funds for client protection.
For more information or how to register, log on to www.abanet.org.