Judicial conduct

When no one is watching

7 Jun 2011

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I’ve always had a great deal of respect for the medical profession.

Unlike lawyers, accountants, Realtors, or even the clergy, the decisions they make affect life and limb. For doctors, ethical conduct isn’t just a means of maintaining the public trust; it’s an essential to their mandate of saving lives.

My doctor has this sign posted on her door:

 

 

To me, it demonstrates the importance of a values-based ethics system, over a rule-based ethics system.

In the end, we might be accountable to our clients and the profession. But if your values lead you to act ethically only when you are being watched, are you really an ethical professional?

By: Franco Tarulli Category: Conduct, Judges, Judicial conduct, Lawyers Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update no. 2: Legal Ethics Hero Greg Adler, and the Bay Area Towing Scam

27 Mar 2011

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My previous posts on this story can be found here and here.

On January 7, 2011, the perpetrators of the scheme were sentenced, and legal ethics hero Greg Adler received some well-deserved commendation.

The elephant in the room, however, remains the conduct of Commissioner Saldivar. Until his involvement in this unfortunate matter is fully investigated, the matter cannot be considered closed.

By: Franco Tarulli Category: Courts, Judges, Judicial conduct, Lawyers Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update: Legal Ethics Hero Greg Adler, and the Bay Area Towing Scam Update

18 Feb 2011

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Last month, I wrote about Greg Adler’s exemplary conduct in exposing Vincent Cardinalli and Paul Greer’s towing scam in the San Francisco Bay area.

Now, NBC thinks enough of Greg Adler’s heroism to run its own story about the case.

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By: Franco Tarulli Category: Conduct, Judges, Judicial conduct, Lawyers Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Run for the Border: Practicing Across Jurisdictions

13 Feb 2011

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In Canada, lawyers enjoy a great deal of freedom to practice outside their home provinces. Generally, if a lawyer has no pending criminal or disciplinary proceedings, and has no disciplinary record, he can practice in any Canadian province other than Quebec for up to 100 days per year without advising the host province’s law society.

This has given lawyers, particularly those in smaller jurisdictions such as Prince Edward Island, a lot of freedom to expand their practices to neighboring provinces.

The agreement that allows for this kind of temporary (and permanent) practice mobility between the common law provinces seems to be working extremely well. It offers members of our profession great opportunities to learn and experience different approaches to common procedural problems – as well as, occasionally, to common problems in the substantive law. That sort of breadth and depth of knowledge translates to a more flexible profession that is able to offer clients more options when it comes to trying to solve difficult legal issues.

But it also raises some interesting ethical issues, both for the lawyers who find themselves in another jurisdiction, as well as for the judges before whom those lawyers appear.

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By: Franco Tarulli Category: Advocacy, Conduct, Governance, Judges, Judicial conduct, Lawyers Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ethical or Unethical: An angry letter to the Judge

24 Jan 2011

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This session, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear an interesting appeal involving the case of Maître Gilles Doré.

Me. Doré is a Quebec lawyer, who wrote a personal letter to a judge complaining about how the judge had treated him in court. The judge then apparently then gave the letter to the Chief Justice of the Court, and the Barreau du Québec, which regulates lawyers in Quebec.

The Barreau suspended Me. Doré for 21 days.

Interestingly, the Canadian Judicial Council, to whom Me. Doré had also complained, issued the judge a severe reprimand, which suggests that Me. Doré’s complaint had merit.

Me. Doré appealed the Barreau’s finding to the Quebec Court of Appeal on constitutional grounds. He argued that if Quebec’s Professional Code, which governs lawyers, makes him subject to discipline for harshly criticizing a judge in a personal letter, then the Code violates his constitutional right to freedom of expression. The Court of Appeal disagreed, and upheld his suspension. Now, he’s taking his argument to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Me. Doré makes an interesting point.

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By: Franco Tarulli Category: Advocacy, Conduct, Judges, Judicial conduct, Lawyers Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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