February 1, 2011
PL 305--Legal Ethics
In class tonight, Tuesday 2/1, I distributed three handouts: an excerpt from the Maine Rules of Evidence regarding attorney-client privilege; an excerpt from the Maine Probate Code regarding rules about making wills (which we used for discussing how much advice is allowed without crossing the line); and a role-playing scenario raising the question of which policies make sense in terms of allowing (or not) some legal work by those other than attorneys. We discussed some of the concepts of Chapter 3 of the text regarding the Unauthorized Practice of Law. I went over one recent probate case, Estate of Gonzalez, 2004 ME 109, to demonstrate how the text of a statute doesn't always answer even simple legal questions; I went over another, Carey v. Indian Rock Corp. 2005 ME 6, regarding the extent that corporate officers can defend their corporations in civil suits; and I went over a third, Winkelman v. Panama City School District, 550 U.S. 516, to update the text in terms of parents' rights to represent their children in Special Education lawsuits. We also discussed the difference between confidentiality requirements and the rules of privilege. Finally we spent a short time in the computer lab, going over Westlaw sign-in, the "Notes of Decisions" section after statutes, and the use of the Headnotes in Westlaw. The assignment for next Tuesday 2/8 is to read Chapter 4 of the text. Also read Rule 1.6 of the Maine Rules of Professsional Conduct. Finally, go the mebaroverseers.org website and read the comments and reporter's notes to Rule 1.6.
In class tonight, Tuesday 2/1, I distributed three handouts: an excerpt from the Maine Rules of Evidence regarding attorney-client privilege; an excerpt from the Maine Probate Code regarding rules about making wills (which we used for discussing how much advice is allowed without crossing the line); and a role-playing scenario raising the question of which policies make sense in terms of allowing (or not) some legal work by those other than attorneys. We discussed some of the concepts of Chapter 3 of the text regarding the Unauthorized Practice of Law. I went over one recent probate case, Estate of Gonzalez, 2004 ME 109, to demonstrate how the text of a statute doesn't always answer even simple legal questions; I went over another, Carey v. Indian Rock Corp. 2005 ME 6, regarding the extent that corporate officers can defend their corporations in civil suits; and I went over a third, Winkelman v. Panama City School District, 550 U.S. 516, to update the text in terms of parents' rights to represent their children in Special Education lawsuits. We also discussed the difference between confidentiality requirements and the rules of privilege. Finally we spent a short time in the computer lab, going over Westlaw sign-in, the "Notes of Decisions" section after statutes, and the use of the Headnotes in Westlaw. The assignment for next Tuesday 2/8 is to read Chapter 4 of the text. Also read Rule 1.6 of the Maine Rules of Professsional Conduct. Finally, go the mebaroverseers.org website and read the comments and reporter's notes to Rule 1.6.
posted by sol goldman | 4:22 PM
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