Navigating Some Deep and Troubled Jurisprudential Waters: Lawyer–Expert Witnesses and the Twin Dangers of Disguised Testimony and Disguised Advocacy

Expert testimony is indispensable to the uniquely American system of adversary justice. Without the assistance of expert witnesses with specialized knowledge, based on either science or experience and practice, jury verdicts would often be the result of pure whim and prejudice, or random and arbitrary decision-making. At the same time, the use of compensated, partisan expert witnesses poses significant dangers to the fair and just determination of disputes. This Article examines the enhanced dangers that can appear when the expert witness is a lawyer, chiefly the pervasive use of “disguised testimony” and “disguised advocacy.” The Article concludes with some suggestions for reform to minimize or eliminate these problems

The Impact of Technological Developments on the Rules of Attorney Ethics Regarding Attorney–Client Privilege, Confidentiality, and Social Media

This article focuses on the development of the law of ethics and technology. Emphasis is placed on how technological developments have affected the rules and means by which lawyers practice law and certain ethical pitfalls that have developed hand-in-hand with technological advancements. Topics examined include: (1) the ways by which electronic communication has increased the potential for the attorney–client privilege to be waived and the resulting impact on the present-day practice of law; (2) the effect of social media on lawyers’ ethical obligations, including counseling clients regarding the client’s use of social media and the lawyer’s own use of social media; and (3) the impact of cloud computing on a lawyer’s obligation to protect client confidences

Am I a “Licensed Liar”?: An Exploration into the Ethic of Honesty in Lawyering . . . and a Reply of “No!” to the Stranger in the La Fiesta Lounge

After hearing for the first time the lawyer-disparaging phrase, “licensed liar,” the author investigated its significance. This article presents the question of those two words’ meaning and explains how the author reached the conclusion that, as applied to attorneys, the phrase is an unmerited epithet. The phrase is known and utilized in nonlegal texts in fields such as fiction, poetry, literary criticism, and journalism, but the two words are absent from legal texts. The author’s discovery of the phrase in various criticisms of lawyers in other publications illuminates and confirms that the phrase constitutes the pejorative allegation that an attorney will engage in prevarication for clients in exchange for compensation. In tracing the history of the question of lawyer honesty, this Article shows honesty to be a persistent ethical obligation. When the essence of the phrase, a supposed willingness to speak untruths with deceptive intent for a fee, is compared to not only the persistently stated ethic of honesty in the practice of law, but also the reality of professional discipline that can result from violations, the phrase is seen to be an unjustified epithet

When Fantasy Becomes Reality: Attempts to Regulate the Highly Unregulated Daily Fantasy Sports Industry

This Comment’s goal is to address the changing legal landscape associated with daily fantasy sports websites and how they coincide with gambling. This Comment focuses on the call for an enhanced regulatory framework concerning daily fantasy sports websites. This Comment also examines how individual states are reacting to daily fantasy sports websites, whether it is by virtue of legislation or by the issuance of advisory opinions. First, Section II presents a brief history of gambling in the United States and discusses the emergence of daily fantasy sports, their lucrative nature, and their meteoric rise in popularity. Section III considers the current federal legal framework for daily fantasy sports websites and the overall lack of regulation that exists to monitor the industry. Specifically, this section examines the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) and how it provides the pathway for daily fantasy sports’ growing success. Section IV explores existing state laws and how individual states are dealing with the emerging trend of daily fantasy sports. This section also briefly discusses a pair of once-proposed, but presently defunct, Texas bills and the Texas Attorney General’s advisory opinion declaring daily fantasy sports as illegal gambling. Finally, Section V views the potential legal and regulatory issues inherent in the daily fantasy sports industry and the potential legal concerns stemming from lack of a regulatory infrastructure. This section also examines several proposed regulatory measures for the daily fantasy sports industry and the potential impact these regulatory measures could have on various daily fantasy sports operators

The Dilemma of Double Fractions: Has Hysaw Resolved the Fixed v. Floating Non-Participating Royalty Interest Issue?

CLE, State Bar of Texa

Avoiding Grievances: 25 Things You Can Do

Despite the high probability lawyers face of having grievances filed against them, there are best practices a lawyer can follow to lower the risk of facing a charge. The purpose of this Essay is to identify the most common situations that give rise to grievances against conscientious, skilled lawyers; to suggest ways that those lawyers can avoid grievances; and to suggest a sensible approach for practitioners facing a grievance