An Informal Discussion on Legal Ethics

Authors

Charles W. Wolfram, Cornell Law SchoolFollow
Ronald D. Rotunda, University of Illinois College of LawFollow
Burnele V. Powell, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of LawFollow
Carol M. Langford, Langford & TaylorFollow
Roy Simon, Hofstra University School of LawFollow

Publication Date

1-1-1999

Introduction

ROY SIMON:

This part of the program is relatively unstructured and unrehearsed. In fact, none of our panelists knows what we are going to do, but the history of this conference over the past two and one-half days has been that we have had no lack of conversation. Every question, even a mundane question, seems to produce controversy, and that is what we will do even without trying now.

Let me introduce our panelists, but first: How many students do we have in the audience? How many of you are Professor Monroe Freedman's students? Well, it's nice to see you here. The panel is one person short. Unfortunately Professor Freedman, due to the illness of his wife, is not able to be here. That is a lack that, no amount of zeal or intelligence from the four very fine panelists that we do have, can make up for. Monroe Freedman is a unique and irreplaceable individual, but we will do our best without him.

The panelists starting on the left are Charles Wolfram of the Cornell Law School. He is the author of a major treatise on lawyers' ethics called MODERN LEGAL ETHICS, and he is also the Chief Reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, now finally, in its third version. It's called the Restatement of the Lawyers Third.

Next is Ronald Rotunda. Ron is a Professor of Law at the University of Illinois. He was a counsel to the Senate-Watergate Committee. That was the Sam Irvin committee which held hearings, almost exactly 25 years ago starting in May of 1973, into the activities of Richard Nixon and many, many lawyers.

Burnele Powell is the Dean of the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Law. He has worked in every segment, well many, many segments of the American Bar Association. He was at the University of North Carolina for 19 years and is very knowledgeable in all different facets of the profession.

Finally, Carol Langford is our private practitioner on the panel, whom I think will inject an additional perspective. So we have three professors-one of whom is a dean. All of us have had various types of practical experience.

My first question is, why don't lawyers do more pro bono work, more than they do now?

Recommended Citation

Wolfram, Charles W.; Rotunda, Ronald D.; Powell, Burnele V.; Langford, Carol M.; and Simon, Roy (1999) "An Informal Discussion on Legal Ethics," Journal of the Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics: Vol. 2, Article 33.
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/jisle/vol2/iss1/33