The New Normal For Educating Lawyers

This article examines who law professors are and what their roles consist of when educating law students. The article discusses the ethical and moral dilemmas that law professors can find themselves in while trying to be competent and trustworthy in their teaching. The article also discusses the role of mentor and counselor as they guide students’ in creating their professional identities

Traffickers\u27 F ing Behavior During a Pandemic: Why Pandemic Online Behavior has Heightened the Urgency to Prevent Traffickers from Finding, Friending, and Facilitating the Exploitation of Youth via Social Media

During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, millions of native Africans were tricked into slavery. Today trans-continental deception continues, ensnaring victims from every corner of the world, many of whom are vulnerable children deceived and enslaved through violence and abuse. Ranked as the second most prevalent criminal enterprise, human trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise in the United States and across the world, with many of the victims recruited, solicited and exploited via social media. The correlation between this social media exploitation and the use of technology during the 2020 pandemic (hereinafter referred to as Pandemic Online Behavior or POB ) highlights the need for action to mitigate the number of child trafficking victims

The Truth of the Matter: Why the Social Contract Dictates Legal Scholar\u27s Sincerity, Candor, & Thoroughness

Legal scholars have filled books, treatises, magazines, journals and law reviews with various writings ranging from highly intricate and complex theses to oversimplified and homogenous explanations. In all its forms, legal scholarship has been both touted and taunted by external and internal critics throughout the years. Some suggest that legal scholarship should holistically frame recommendations to responsible decision makers, and more specifically help the reader understand law. Others suggest that it should be used to bring restraint, proportion, perspective and atmosphere into the legal landscape and society at large. Whatever its stated purpose and whether it be doctrinal, descriptive or practical, legal scholarship remains an intricate and influential factor in legal academia, the legal system as a whole, and shaping cultural and professional discourses. As such, the varied and broad topics of legal scholarship (the empirical, the interpretive, the normative, and the prescriptive) provide innumerable opportunities for legal scholars: opportunities that are truly a gift as noted by Professor Lefkowitz. This gift should not be taken for granted, and should comport with [both] the goals and attributes of the academy \u27 and with the goals and conditions of the legal profession

The “Friend”ly Lawyer: Professionalism and Ethical Considerations of the Use of Social Networking During Litigation

Social media use has exploded around the world. The top social networking site (SNS), Facebook, reports that it has more than a billion members with approximately two million friend requests every twenty minutes. Coupled with the other top 15 social networking sites, including Linkedln, Google+, Twitter, and MySpace, the number of social networking users is estimated to exceed 2 billion. With billions of people producing and consuming media content through SNS, there has been a growing trend of law firms\u27 use of SNS as a marketing tool and litigators\u27 inclusion of discovery from SNS as a part of their discovery protocol. The rapid growth of SNS have enabled large numbers of users to instantly create and share content and has simultaneously unveiled concerns regarding the ethical and professional liabilities of attorneys participating in such SNS

The New Normal for Educating Lawyer

This article examines who law professors are and what their roles consist of when educating law students. The article discusses the ethical and moral dilemmas that law professors can find themselves in while trying to be competent and trustworthy in their teaching. The article also discusses the role of mentor and counselor as they guide students’ in creating their professional identities

Friends of Justice: Does Social Media Impact the Public Perception of the Justice System?

This article will demonstrate how the unregulated use of social media by participants in the justice system (judges, attorneys and jurors specifically) affects the public perception and subsequently the integrity of our justice system. The article will provide a holistic review of social media use by judges, attorneys and jurors, and demonstrate why their use of social media should be harnessed in a manner to ensure compliance with ethical rules and reduce potential negative effects to the social contract between law and society. Social media is like a culvert. It catches pictures, novelties, personal profiles, gossip, news, unfiltered opinions, and punditry. It is subject to misuse. This article draws lines beyond which the users in the justice system should not go. It recounts important cases and provides guidance when doubt seeps into what judges, jurors, and attorneys want to do. Part II of the article will discuss the perception of lawyers held by the public in general as a foundational basis to discuss the importance of appropriately regulated social media use in the legal profession. Part III will briefly discuss social media use in the legal community providing a backdrop to the opportunities and pitfalls of such use, which will be more specifically addressed in Part IV where the correlation between the provision of justice and social media use by judges, jurors, and attorneys will be analyzed. Part V will provide justification for regulation, or at the very least, detailed guidance for social media use for those in the justice system, recognizing that social media’s rapid dissemination of material requires that the legal profession harness or, less restrictively, regulate unfettered use of social media by attorneys as any negative implications will serve to further undermine the public trust in the profession. Suggested guidelines and proposed amendments to current provisions will be provided in support. Part VI provides the conclusion

Enforcement of Law Schools’ Non-Academic Honor Codes: A Necessary Step Towards Professionalism?

Lawyers belong to a profession that generally takes pride in its “professional status” and is hypersensitive about its image. Yet, there is increasing discomfort within the profession with both the state of professionalism exhibited by lawyers and the perception of a lack of professionalism held by the general public. Unfortunately, the unprofessional behavior of some lawyers has birthed a plethora of lawyer jokes and other unsavory illustrations of the practice of law. Lack of civility, rudeness, vulgarity, physical altercations, inappropriate dress, and poor behavior—or plain lackluster behavior (including falling asleep in court)—illustrate the growing population of attorneys whose actions lack professionalism. Unprofessional behavior exhibited by some lawyers has led to the fair conclusion that young attorneys have failed to absorb the significance of practicing professionalism. Hence, the question: do law schools have the responsibility to integrate professionalism “teaching” and/or training? If so, are law schools adequately fulfilling that responsibility? One critical method in fulfilling this responsibility is through the enactment and enforcement of student honor codes. Awareness and conformance to rules and regulations governing the appropriate and acceptable scope of behavior for students pursuing law degrees will provide practice and reinforcement for professional behavior in subsequent practice. Currently, most American law schools have an honor code or some variation thereof. The underlying bases for the codes are to provide instruction and education as to acceptable types of behavior and to advise of specific consequences for violation or non-conformance to the governing rules of behavior. As law schools strive to enforce their codes of student conduct, enforcement has called into question the legal standing of the schools, since enforcement affects the fundamental rights of students. Consequently, this Article will address the following question: to what extent can law schools fulfill their responsibility and opportunity to enforce behavioral codes—specifically codes governing non-academic conduct—with a goal of improving professionalism? Through analysis of law schools’ enforcement capabilities, this Article will suggest a practical framework by which law schools can promulgate and enforce codes and rules affecting students’ non-academic conduct. Part II of the Article will briefly address the necessity of professional code enforcement. Part III will discuss the nomenclature and types of law school conduct codes in section III.A, address the unclear delineation between academic and non-academic codes in section III.B, endorse enforcement of non-academic conduct in law schools in section III.C, and discuss the potentially different standard for private law schools versus public law schools in section III.D. Part IV will discuss law schools’ governing bodies’ guidance (or lack thereof) regarding appropriate rules and regulations governing student conduct. Part V will address constitutional constraints in enacting and enforcing student codes, with a focus on First Amendment implications in section V.A, the application of the Fourteenth Amendment in section V.B, and the deference afforded to institutions of higher learning regarding regulation of student behavior in section V.C. Section V.C also proposes that law schools be allowed more latitude in enacting and enforcing student codes within the constraints of the United States Constitution. Part VI provides suggestions for drafting Codes of Conduct in keeping with current jurisprudence differentiating between speech control in section VI.A, and conduct control in section VI.B. Section VI.C suggests general guidelines for drafting law school conduct codes which specifically address behaviors consistent with the ideals of professionalism for lawyers

Enforcement of Law Schools\u27 Non-Academic Honor Codes: A Necessary Step Towards Professionalism?

As law schools strive to enforce their codes of student conduct, enforcement has called into question the legal standing of the schools, since enforcement affects the fundamental rights of students. Consequently, this Article will address the following question: to what extent can law schools fulfill their responsibility and opportunity to enforce behavioral codes-specifically codes governing non-academic conduct-with a goal of improving professionalism? Through analysis of law schools\u27 enforcement capabilities, this Article will suggest a practical framework by which law schools can promulgate and enforce codes and rules affecting students\u27 non-academic conduct