Legal Ethics

Lawyers in common law systems today sense that they are subjects of unprecedented investigation, criticism and attack. Yet finding responses to public criticism is not easy. This is the first collection of essays on legal ethics which addresses the subject from a comparative perspective. It aims to reflect on some of the key issues, suggest possible arguments which might lead to solutions, and to provide readers, particularly those involved in practice, with strategies for devising more "ethical" practices.

Beginning with a general overview, this book examines ethical rules pertaining to the judiciary, the Bar, and solicitors. Further chapters look at confidentiality, at the particular ethical problems of the family and criminal law jurisdictions, and at the teaching of legal ethics. Other chapters put the subject into its wider social and professional context and ask whether the medical ethics can throw light on legal ethics.

Lawyers' ethics have been condemned for centuries, but they received little scholarly scrutiny until the last few decades. Ethics in Practice brings together leading experts in the emerging field of legal ethics to discuss the central dilemmas of practicing law. This collection cuts across conventional disciplinary boundaries to address the roles, responsibilities, and regulation of contemporary lawyers. Contributors address common concerns from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, and organizational behavior. Topics include the nature of professions, the structure of practice, the constraints of an adversarial system, the attorney-client relationship, the practical value of moral theory, the role of race and gender, and the public service responsibilities of lawyers and law students. Unique in both its breadth and its depth, this book redefines debates that are of enduring significance for both the profession and the public.

This new collection of essays opens with a pivotal essay, not previously published, on the implications of the moral duties which arise out of concern for the well-being of others. The first part of the book concentrates on the consequences of two central aspects of well-being: the importance of membership in groups - the role of belonging - and the active character of well-being - that it largely consists in successful activities. Both aspects have far-reaching political implications, explored in essays on free expression, national self-determination, and multiculturalism, among others. Against the background of the moral and political views developed in the first part, the second part of the book explores various aspects of the dynamic inter-relations between law and morality, offering some building blocks towards a theory of law.

Powerful emotion and pursuit of self-interest have many times led people to break the law with the belief that they are doing so with sound moral reasons. This study, a comprehensive philosophical and legal analysis of the gray area in which the foundations of law and morality clash, views these oblique circumstances from two perspectives: that of the person who faces a possible conflict between the claims of morality and law and must choose whether or not to obey the penal code; and that of the people who make and uphold laws and must decide whether to treat someone with a moral claim to disobey differently from ordinary lawbreakers. In examining the extent of the obligations owed by citizens to their government, Greenawalt concentrates on the possible existence of a single source of obligation that reaches all citizens and all laws. He also discusses techniques of amelioration of punishment for conscientious lawbreakers, asking how far legal systems should go to accommodate individuals who break the law for reason of conscience. Drawing from numerous examples of conflicts between law and morality, Greeawalt illustrates in detail the positions and predicaments of potential lawbreakers and lawmakers alike.

This is a thematic study in legal history that uses past and present landmark court cases to analyze the legal and historical development of moral regulatory policies in America and resulting debates.

This highly informed selection of readings on judicial ethics is singular in the authoritative commentary and experience offered by the editors. The work considers the various ways in which moral problems arise for judges. The three sections examine: the ideal, corrupt, and over-zealous judge; the "judging" role as it is affected by tensions rising from not only the facts of a case and legal precedents but also from personal beliefs and social expectations; and, in the final section, the judge's need for independence and its relationship to accountability and the avoidance of abuse. This work is a balanced, comprehensive, and constructive volume reflecting on the moral issues involved in sitting in judgment.