LER No. 46 - Luck of the Irish Edition đ (06.10.24)
The Legal Ethics Roundup - your Monday morning tour of all things related to lawyer and judicial ethics with University of Houston law professor Renee Knake Jefferson
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Hello from Ireland! đ I spent the past week in Enniskillen and Dublin, plus a day trip to Belfast and Giants Causeway, with my husband and kids. Recently, thanks in part to my college friend Caroline Heintzelmanâs incredible genealogy work, I learned that my fifth great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, and owned land in Virginia near Washington D.C. in the late 1700s after immigrating with his father from Ireland in 1771. That led me to research the line of grandfathers going all the way back to the 1300s. I discovered that three generations lived in Enniskillen, and we visited the ruins of Nixon Hall, among other family sites on this trip. (Next year I hope to do a similar trek to northern England, where previous generations lived before immigrating to Ireland in the late 1600s.)
This weekâs headlines are a nod to my Irish heritage, along with other sections, even the job postings!
Highlights from Last Week - Top Ten Headlines (5 from Ireland + 5 from the US)
News from Ireland
#1 Irish Criminal Barristers May Strike. From the Irish Legal News: âCriminal barristers have been urged by the Bar Council not to take part in a proposed wildcat strike over fee restoration. Hundreds of barristers are said to have signed a declaration which states that they âwill not attend court on or after the 1st June 2024 for cases involving State-funded prosecution and/or defence work in criminal casesâ because of the governmentâs failure to reverse FEMPI-era pay cuts. However, the declaration caveats this by saying that the action will only go forward if âat least half of those on the prosecution and defence panels also signâ. Organisers Luigi Rea BL and Darren Lalor BL say the declaration has been signed by 75 senior counsel and 326 junior counsel, but they have not received answers to queries about the total number of barristers on the prosecution and defence panels.â Read more here.
#2 Irelandâs Supreme Court Needs More Space; May Get Cameras in the Courtroom. From the Irish Legal News: âThe main Four Courts building is ânow beyond bursting pointâ and new premises will have to be found for some administrative functions, the Chief Justice has said at an event commemorating the centenary of the Irish courts system. Chief Justice Donal OâDonnell said there are âadvantages and pleasures to working in such an historic building, but doing so should not come at a sacrifice to support, facilities or efficiency.â ⊠The top judge also used yesterdayâs event to announce plans for a broadcasting pilot which will commence before the end of the year. A short-lived pilot previously saw the broadcasting of Supreme Court decisions on two occasions in 2017. The new pilot will aim to consistently broadcast hearings in the Supreme Court.â Read more here.
#3 Irish Solicitor Trainee Numbers Hit 15 Year High. From the Law Society Gazette: âTrainee intake hit a 15-year high at year-end 2023. However, a cause for concern is that 13 counties have either zero or just one trainee ⊠. Trainee solicitor admissions in Ireland nudged to a 15-year high at year-end 2023 with an intake of 561 trainees, as revealed in the Law Societyâs Annual Report on Admission Policies of Legal Professions 2023. The continuing strength of admission numbers is timely, given that the sector has been grappling with attracting and retaining skilled professionals for some time.â Read more here.
#4 Pro Bono Week Ireland Upcoming. From the Public Interest Law Alliance: âPro Bono Week Ireland will take place from 10 to 14 June 2024. Pro Bono Week Ireland is a part of a wider project, i.e. European Pro Bono Week, a multi-city, week-long event to celebrate and highlight the role played by the European lawyers in supporting civil society and human rights organizations and promoting access to justice for those in need. It is organized by the European Pro Bono Initiative, PILnet, Trustlaw, law firms and European pro bono clearinghouses and organizations. A central objective of Pro Bono Week is to bring together various stakeholders in the pro bono ecosystem â lawyers, law students, non-profits, human rights activists, academics and business â for an engaging conversation about important issues relating to legal needs within Europe and the role for pro bono in tackling these issues.â Read more here. (And in case you are wondering, the US has its own week - the National Celebration of Pro Bono - in October.)
#5 Belfast Law Firm Integrates AI. From News Letter: âBelfastâs McKees has become the first law firm in Northern Ireland to integrate generative AI technology tailored specifically for lawyers. The leading independent commercial law firm has partnered with Cicero AI, a legal technology startup that has developed a secure platform that focuses on integrating artificial intelligence into existing solicitor workflows to enhance efficiency and accuracy with the aim of improving overall delivery of legal solutions.â Read more here.
News from the United States
#1 SCOTUS Releases Financial Disclosures. Financial disclosures were released for eight US Supreme Court justices Friday. Check out LER Bonus Content No. 14 to learn who went to Bali, who received Beyoncé tickets, and much more.
#2 The Legal Ethics & Law Reviews. Two headlines for #2. First, from Inside Higher Ed: ââUnprecedented Stepsâ: Board Pulls Plug on Columbia Law Review Website. After student editors published a submitted article Monday accusing Israel of genocide, the journalâs Board of Directors took the whole site down. One editor describes how it happened.â Read more here. Second, from Reuters: âNYU law school dodges white man's lawsuit claiming law review discrimination. A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday dismissed a race and sex discrimination lawsuit challenging the selection process for New York University School of Lawâs flagship law review, saying the anonymous white male plaintiff lacked standing to sue and that his complaint lacked facts to support his allegations.â Read more here.
#3 âInside the tight-knit circle of attorneys and judges that fueled the meteoric rise of the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court â and its spectacular fall.â  From Business Insider: âOn a mild Houston day in March 2021, Judge Marvin Isgur prepared to oversee the only case on his docket that morning. It was a motion to recuse his longtime colleague on the bench, David Jones, from a case involving a bankrupt engineering company. ⊠On this day, the circumstances were anything but usual. The motion, filed months earlier, had just been updated with a shocking allegation: Jones was in a âromantic relationshipâ with attorney Elizabeth Freeman, his former clerk and then a lawyer at Jackson Walker, a Texas firm that often appeared before Jones and Isgur in the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court, where the pair of judges handled the most high-profile cases.â Read more here.Â
#4 Wisconsin Indicts Lawyers Chesebro and Troupis Over Election Cases. From Forbes: âWisconsin prosecutors charged former Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro and James Troupis for their role in the âfake electorâ scheme trying to overturn the 2020 election on Tuesday, according to multiple reportsâthe latest in a string of lawyers who are facing consequences for their work with former President Donald Trump.â Read more here, including a list of all the lawyers indicted to date in various jurisdictions - more than a dozen.
#5 Appellate Lawyer Defends Justice Alitoâs Flags While Former Clerk Calls for Recusal. You get two headlines for #5. First, from Bloomberg Law: âSupreme Court lawyer Allyson Ho defended Justice Samuel Alito amid a controversy over flags flown at his residences. Critics are âweaponizing ethicsâ to âgo after individual jurists because of what is really a dislike of their viewpoint,â Ho, a Gibson, Dunn partner, said at a Federalist Society event online Wednesday. Her husband, James Ho, was appointed to the Fifth Circuit by Donald Trump. ⊠Ho argued her fifth case before the justices in March.â Read more here. Second, from The Hill: âA former law clerk for Justice Samuel Alito is calling for him to recuse himself from cases before the Supreme Court in the wake of reporting that an upside-down American flag flew outside his home after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. âThis is not an insignificant symbol,â Susan Sullivan said Wednesday in an interview on MSNBC.â Read more here.
This Month in (Irish) Ethics History
June 5, 1924. The commencement of Part 1 of the Courts of Justice Act of 1924 which established the High Court and, for the first time, a Supreme Court of Ireland.
June 22, 1920. The first female solicitor licensed to practice in Ireland, Helen Early, was permitted to work with her brother, also a lawyer, and formally admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1923. Dorothea Heron was the first to join the roll of solicitors, also in 1923, but she never obtained a license to practice. You can read more about the history of Irish women in law here.
Recommended Reading â Comparative Perspectives from Ireland
âStandardization and Authority in Judicial Discipline: A Comment on Italy and Irelandâs Experienceâ by Silvio Roberto Vinceti. From the abstract:
The legislative description of types of judicial misbehaviour and the allocation of authority over cases of alleged misconduct are two of the main features characterizing systems of judicial discipline. While sometimes judicial misbehaviour is only very vaguely defined in the law, in âstandardisedâ systems specific and concrete disciplinary offences are listed by statute. At the same time, legal systems diverge also in allocating authority over judicial discipline, as different constitutional arrangements of the power to remove judges demonstrate. By comparing Irelandâs and Italyâs experiences, the Comment argues that standardisation plays a comparatively less important role in contrasting judicial misconduct than the fine-tuned allocation of authority and, particularly, of the power of judicial removal.
âThe Lesson of the Irish Family Pub: The Elder Clinic Path to a More Thoughtful Practice,â by Katherine C. Pearson (Penn State). An excerpt from the articleâs conclusion:
The need for affordable legal services to older adults is recognized on the international front. During my sabbatical, I had the good fortune to participate in a dynamic approach to advocacy for older adults in Northern Ireland, operating as the Changing Aging Partnership (CAP). CAP brings together older adults, representatives of government, service providers in voluntary and community groups, and university researchers. One of the research products from the partnership was a study that examined the needs of older adults for legal advice. Reminiscent of the sentiments of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ireland in the Carroll case, the report opens with the observation that many older people in Northern Ireland are unaware of where and when advice is available. Furthermore older adults may be unaware that advice is needed. In their recommendations, the authors highlighted the following items:
the need for improved communication between relevant health and social care professionals and the legal profession in terms of raising awareness of older peopleâs needs for legal advice at critical periodsâ;
the need to provide specialist legal services for older peopleâs issues generally and also to meet the particular needs of groups and individuals who are marginalized and socially excludedâ;
the need for legal advice available to older people living in residential care;Â Â
the need for affordable legal services and clear pricing of legal services; and
 the need for education programs sensitizing students to the legal needs of older adults.
Such a list serves as a simple but effective mission statement for development of interdisciplinary, university-based legal clinics serving older adults, both within and outside the United States.
Get Hired (in Ireland)
Did you miss the 100+ job postings from previous weeks? Find them all here.
Global Conflicts Lawyer, Dentons â Ireland. Responsible for the review, identification and resolution of potential conflicts issues with respect to clients, matters, and new business. Learn more and apply here.
Fulbright Scholar â Ireland. Lecturing/teaching/community outreach will be done in consultation with host institution. Conducting/presenting research will ideally be done in collaboration with host institution's staff and/or resources. No preference for how scholars divide their time between teaching and research. Three to ten months. Learn more and apply here.
(Irish) Wisdom for the Week
âAn independent judiciary is not just a characteristic of a democratic society. It is its foundation. And that must be supported in a practical sense. Supporting this crucial foundation ensures that justice can be administered impartially, free from external pressures and influences, and upholding the rule of law.â â Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, â100 Year Anniversary of Our Modern and Independent Irish Court System,â May 28, 2024, Four Courts, Dublin
Upcoming Ethics Events & Other Announcements
Did you miss an announcement from previous weeks? Find them all here.
July 17-19 â International Legal Ethics Conference, University of Amsterdam. Registration now open. More details here.
July 26, 2024 â Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting. If youâre attending the SEALS annual meeting, stop by the panel on Teaching Professional Responsibility in Divisive (and Strange) Times from 1:00 - 2:45 pm. Participants include Ben Barton (Tennessee); Thomas Metzloff (Duke); Kate Kruse (Mitchell Hamline); Alex Long (Tennessee); Ben Cooper (Mississippi); John Cook (Arkansas); Jon Lee (Oklahoma); Margaret Tarkington (IU); Brad Wendel (Cornell); and Paula Schaefer (Tennessee). Details and registration here.
August 1-3 â Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers Annual Meeting, Chicago. Details and registration here.
September 1 â Deadline to Submit for Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize. Submissions and nominations of articles are being accepted for the fifteenth annual Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize for Scholarship in Professional Responsibility. To honor Fred's memory, the committee will select from among articles in the field of Professional Responsibility with a publication date of 2024. The prize will be awarded at the 2025 AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Please send submissions and nominations to Samuel Levine (Touro Law) slevine@tourolaw.edu. The deadline for submissions and nominations is September 1, 2024. To learn more about the history of this prestigious award and the past recipients, revisit LER Bonus Content No. 6.
September 13 â Deadline to Submit for AALS Professional Responsibility Section 2025 Annual Meeting New Voices Workshop. The AALS Professional Responsibility Section invites papers for its program "Professional Responsibility New Voices Workshop" that will take place during the 2025 AALS Annual Meeting, January 7-11 in San Francisco. Full-time faculty members of AALS member law schools are eligible to submit papers. Preference will be given to junior scholars, and submissions from non-tenure-track faculty are welcome. There is no formal requirement as to the form or length of proposals. Abstracts are welcome. Email your submissions or questions about the workshop to the Chair-Elect of the AALS PR Section, Jon Lee (jon.lee@ou.edu), with "AALS PR New Voices" in the subject of the email.
Keep in Touch
News tips? Announcements? Events? A job to post? Reading recommendations? Email legalethics@substack.com - but be sure to subscribe first, otherwise the email wonât be delivered.
Teaching Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics? Check out the companion blog for my casebook Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach for teaching ideas and other resources.
Want me to speak about my new book Law Democratized with your group or organization? Email my publicist Sydney Garcia at sydney.garcia@nyu.edu
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