The Laws of Agency Lawyering

The great variety of agency rules governing lawyers raises interesting questions that are worth exploring. This Article begins that exploration. Part I lays the groundwork by briefly examining how the ABA Model Rules treat regulatory lawyering to raise the question of what regulatory gaps the agency rules might be expected to fill. Part II sets forth several possible theories of agency rule variation. Part III compares agency rules along a number of dimensions, examines some similarities and differences across agencies as well as between the agency rules and the Model Rules, and offers speculations about what may be driving the differences that exist

Finding Fault with Wonnell\u27s Two Contractual Wrongs

Professor Christopher Wonnell\u27s excellent paper, Expectation, Reliance, and the Two Contractual Wrongs,\u27 makes two basic points, both of which I find convincing, but neither of which contract scholars generally appreciate and accept. The first point, largely descriptive and so less controversial, is that the concepts of expectation and reliance are not simply two different ways of conceiving compensation; rather, they are two different ways of conceiving contractual wrongs from both a moral and an economic perspective.2 From a moral perspective, expectation damages remedy the wrong of breaching a contractual promise that should have been performed. Reliance damages remedy the wrong of encouraging reliance through a contractual promise that either should not have been made or should no longer be performed. From an economic perspective, expectation damages focus on deterring wrongful breaches. Reliance damages focus on deterring wrongful contracting behavior other than breach. The second point, normative and highly controversial, is that courts should choose between expectation and reliance remedies depending on the reason for the breach.3 Several years ago, I tried to make similar points in an article that Wonnell generously includes in the pantheon he parades in the last section of his article,\u27 so the fact that I mostly agree with him is not all that surprising