This seminar provides both valuable practical information about the disciplinary system and grapples with important philosophical questions that our profession is currently facing.
After the election, with attorney conduct under the microscope, this seminar will accomplish two complementary educational objectives.
First, panelists will discuss the institutional, prudential and practical goals of attorney regulation and discipline, including the role played by judicial sanctions.
Second, panelists will provide an understanding of the mechanics and processes of both the rules governing the disciplinary process and the mechanics of judicial sanctions.
Panelists will use two recent high-profile cases, the matter of the NY Bar Complaint against Rudolph Giuliani and the case of former Wilkie Farr & Gallagher Chair, Gordon Caplan, who was convicted of participating in the “Varsity Blues” higher-education fraud, as “case-studies.”
Three unique panels explore:
- The Complaint against Rudolph Giuliani: what were the competing ethical values and concerns that resulted in the drafting of the Complaint? How did the Rules of Professional Conduct and case precedent guide the drafting of the complaint? What are the possible outcomes?
- What was the rationale behind the two-year suspension for New York lawyer Gordon Caplan? Was that a harsh or lenient sentence? What does discipline say to the public about the profession’s values?
- How would these matters be handled in Pennsylvania: complaint to disposition: the procedure, process, and the defenses and arguments.
- Is the disciplinary process the right venue for the sanctioning of alleged misconduct? Is Rule 11 and other judicial sanctions better suited for the regulation of high-profile attorneys who use the court system for illegitimate purposes? Ethics experts, judges and a representative from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel discuss these questions.
- What safeguards exist to protect lawyers taking on unpopular causes or clients?
The Agenda
The High-Profile Case: What is at Stake?
- Background of the Disciplinary Complaint against Rudolph Giuliani
- Pros and Cons of Drafting the Complaint
- Possible outcomes
How would this case be handled in Pennsylvania?
- Process
- Defenses and arguments
- Adjudication
- Sanctions
Attorney Regulation of High-Profile Cases
- What is the purpose of attorney regulation?
- How are the purposes best served?
- How does regulation affect public perception?
- What role should judicial sanctions play in attorney regulation?
- How do we prevent the politicization of discipline?
All attendees will receive the course book as a digital download. A printed copy of the course book is available, at a discount to attendees, for $40. Additional copies are available at full price. If you wish to purchase the printed version of the course book, please call PBI Customer Service at 800-932-4637. Printed versions of the course book will not be distributed at the course; please allow up to two weeks after the program for the printed versions of the course book to be shipped.
Recorded in March 2021.