Are Law Firm Partners Islands unto Themselves? An Empirical Study of Law Firm Peer Review and Culture

This article examines how attitude and law firm culture affect peer review and principal accountability by using empirical data obtained from a survey of Texas law firms. Part I briefly describes the research design and the general profiles of respondents of the survey. Part II discusses the peer review measures used by the firms surveyed for this article. Part III analyzes attitudes about peer review. Part IV focuses on the obstacles to peer review. Part V considers the connection between firm culture and the implementation of peer review measures. Finally, the conclusion explains how firm managers can reshape attitudes to address the resistance to peer review and institute peer review measures which serve the firm, its attorneys, its clients, and the community

Law Student Admissions and Ethics - Rethinking Character and Fitness Inquiries

This article expands on the use and recommended methods of including criminal background inquiries on law school applications. Part I of this article begins with an introduction to the ethics issues arising in connection with the admission of law students. Part II focuses on different purposes served by criminal background questions on the law school admission application, including screening applicants’ fitness to practice law. Part III considers the various ways law schools handle applicants’ nondisclosure and expands on the benefits of a modified amnesty program. Part IV explores how criminal background inquiries differ in depth, spanning from questions asking about criminal convictions to questions covering criminal charges, and how these inquiries may reflect a socio-economic bias. Part V details the advantages lawyers can provide applicants regarding disclosure. The article concludes by recommending measures law schools can take to effectively employ criminal background inquiries while simultaneously limiting any socio-economic bias

Are Law Firm Partners Islands unto Themselves? An Empirical Study of Law Firm Peer Review and Culture

This article examines how attitude and law firm culture affect peer review and principal accountability by using empirical data obtained from a survey of Texas law firms. Part I briefly describes the research design and the general profiles of respondents of the survey. Part II discusses the peer review measures used by the firms surveyed for this article. Part III analyzes attitudes about peer review. Part IV focuses on the obstacles to peer review. Part V considers the connection between firm culture and the implementation of peer review measures. Finally, the conclusion explains how firm managers can reshape attitudes to address the resistance to peer review and institute peer review measures which serve the firm, its attorneys, its clients, and the community

An Empirical Study of Associate Satisfaction, Law Firm Culture, and the Effects of Billable Hour Requirements - Part Two

This article considers billing practices, the effects of hourly billing pressure, and firm culture as reflected in a survey of associates in Texas law firms. Part I of this article reports the empirical information from the survey. This information includes insight into the toll an increase in billable hour requirements has taken on legal practitioners and the consequent affect on the legal field. Part II discusses what the data means and how it might be used to improve the outlook for attracting and retaining good associates

Preventing Sexual Harassment and Misconduct in Higher Education: How Lawyers Should Assist Universities in Fortifying Ethical Infrastructure

The shocking reports of sexual misconduct involving Larry Nassar, the former physician at Michigan State University, captured attention worldwide. More than 300 women sued alleging that the university ignored or dismissed complaints. In Congressional testimony the former president of Michigan State apologized and noted that an independent review of the university\u27s policies revealed that they were among the most robust that the consultants had seen. This raises the question as to how sexual misconduct could have gone unaddressed for many years. The answer to this question may be found in a 2018 Consensus Report of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, called Sexual Harassment of Women, Climate, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The Report points to the inadequacy of legal mechanisms and statutes that incentivize creation of policies and procedures that focus on symbolic compliance with current law and avoiding liability. Because organizational culture is the most potent predictor of sexual harassment, the Report argues that universities should move beyond legal compliance and focus on promoting practices to promote a culture of civility and respect.In order to change culture and climate in higher education and to improve policies and procedures, university administrators should use the analytical framework of ethical infrastructure to evaluate the organization\u27s formal and informal systems, as well as the climate that supports those systems. Using such a framework, universities can proactively deal with sexual harassment and misconduct. To systematically examine ethical infrastructure, the essay proposes that higher education institutions use a self-assessment tool to examine all aspects of ethical infrastructure. The conclusion calls for legal scholars and practitioners, including members of the American Law Institute Consultative Group on Sexual Assault, to partner with other experts to develop a comprehensive self-assessment tool for examining and improving the ethical infrastructure related to sexual harassment and misconduct

Professional Responsibility and Liability Issues Related to Limited Liability Law Partnerships

This article surveys the professional responsibility and liability issues related to attorneys practicing in limited liability law firms. Part I of this article provides background information regarding the development of the limited liability partnership (LLP) and its popularity among legal professionals. Part II tackles the 1996 ethics opinion on LLPs rendered by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. This article criticizes the ABA opinion by examining the conclusions and reasoning articulated in the opinion, indentifying disciplinary rules that the opinion did not address, and considering the possible effects of the opinion. Part III focuses on some professional liability issues raised by attorneys practicing in LLPs. Part IV concludes by calling for reexamination of the ABA opinion on LLPs as well as the manner in which ethics opinions are rendered. The conclusion challenges the newly created ABA Special Committee on Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, called “Ethics 2000,” to revisit professionalism and quality issues as they relate to attorneys practicing in limited liability law firms

Challenges and Guidance for Lawyering in a Global Society

This foreword provides an overview of some key aspects of law practice that have changed over the last thirty years. Advancements in technology that allow communication and interaction across borders have facilitated lawyers in globalizing their practice locality. Consequently, new issues regarding comparative ethics have arisen. This foreword suggests that ethics rules have not kept pace with the changing landscape of law practice and uses current standards for advanced waivers, rules relating to contracts with represented and unrepresented persons, and the proper use of ethics rules in civil litigation to illustrate this point. This foreword raises concern over the erosion of the attorney-client privilege and lawyer independence. This foreword acknowledges that legal malpractice law continues to be a developing body of law. Finally, this foreword warns of the potential ethical traps for lawyers representing family members and the need for more guidance in this area

Leaks, Lies, and the Moonlight: Fiduciary Duties of Associates to Their Law Firms

This symposium article examines the fiduciary duties of law firm associates. After applying agency principles to the firm-associate relationship, the article analyzes specific duties and discusses cases involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duties by associates. It explores associate duties in the current legal, organizational, and socio-technological environment in which associates practice. The article closes with observations on the importance of firm principals considering the effect of firm culture on associate attitudes and conduct

I Don\u27t Have Time to Be Ethical: Addressing the Effects of Billable Hour Pressure

This article discusses the unintended consequences of the billable hour derby and suggests changes to address the deleterious effects of increasing billable hour requirements. A brief introduction identifies law firms’ recent tendency to increase the billable hour requirements to fund the heightened salaries of associates. This article analyzes the results from an empirical study focused on the effects of billable hour expectations and firm cultures. Part I generally reviews the study findings. Part II discusses the work and report of the ABA Commission, while Part III indentifies those issues and approaches that the ABA and firm managers should explore. Recognizing the unlikelihood that hourly billing can be completely eliminated, the conclusion calls on bar and firm leaders to reexamine compensation and partnership models that result in attorneys sacrificing their personal lives in order to achieve professional success

A Jurisprudential Analysis of Government Intervention and Prenatal Drug Abuse

This article addresses the serious public health problem of substance abuse among pregnant women. Part I of this article introduces the national problem of prenatal drug abuse. Part II discuses the appropriateness of government intervention. The article explains the medical consequences of prenatal drug abuse, and then, describes the justification of government intervention. The article details both existing criminal law and new legislation regarding prenatal drug abuse. Part III addresses constitutional concerns and the conflict between a woman’s right on the one hand and the state interest and “fetal rights” on the other. Part IV considers the moral and legal obligations and duties of pregnant women. After introducing the obligations and duties of pregnant woman, the article analyzes the issues using Hohfeld’s Correlatives. Part V evaluates the advisability of adopting criminal legislation that punishes women for not getting drug treatment. Part VI argues for legislation that treats drug addiction as a disease. The article reasons that by focusing on treatment, a win/win situation is created where the interest if the mother, the unborn child, and society are served. Part VII touts the advantages of the proposed legislation while Part VIII examines its practical effects. Part IX concludes by reasserting the seriousness of prenatal drug abuse and the benefits of legislation that would treat drug addiction as a disease