News 2002
 


October 31 : April 26 : February 19 : February 12 : January 14

October 31, 2002

  • The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's order rejecting the invocation of an attorney-client privilege by the former Illinois Secretary of State with respect to conversations between him and the General Counsel of the Office of Secretary of State. In re: A Witness Before the Special Grand Jury 2002-2, 288 F. 3d 289 (7th Cir. 2002). The privilege was invoked in an attempt to block the government attorney's testimony before a federal grand jury investigating allegations of corruption in the Illinois Secretary of State's office. The court noted two decisions by other courts of appeals arising from Independent Counsel investigations of President Clinton in which an attempt to invoke the privilege with respect to communications between a federal governmental attorney and a federal official was rejected. Id. at 292, citing In re Lindsey, 158 F. 3d 1263 (D.C.Cir. 1998); In re Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum, 112 F.3d 910 (8th Cir.1997). The Seventh Circuit's conclusion should be no surprise given the "traditional understanding that an organizational attorney's client is the organization", 288 F. 3d at 293 n.2, the principle that the privilege runs to the office not the holder, and the application of that rule in the context of corporations. Accordingly, the court held that "none of the conversations between Bickel and Ryan made in their official capacities as General Counsel and Secretary of State are privileged in the face of a federal grand jury subpoena...." Id. at 295.


  • James M. McCauley, Ethics Counsel, Virginia State Bar, has written "Professional Responsibility Issues for Marketing and Providing Legal Services over the Internet." In that article, which will be of assistance to all practitioners with an internet presence, McCauley suggests that, while lawyer web pages are not a form of solicitation, they do represent advertising that is subject to Bar disciplinary rules. Which State's rules govern is a tricky issue, and McCauley points to some practical steps that lawyers can take. He addresses other issues as well, including those involving unauthorized practice of law. Click HERE to read McCauley's article.

April 26, 2002

  • The issue of military recruitment on college campuses has surfaced once again. Click HERE to read three letters that address this issue as it pertains to Yale Law School.

February 19, 2002

  • Judicial Speech Codes: Supreme Court Review of Republican Party of Minnesota v. Kelly
    The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 26, 2002 on a constitutional challenge to a Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct provision that prohibits judicial candidates from expressing "views on disputed legal or political issues." The Federalist Society will hold a panel discussion on this case on Monday, March 4. Click HERE for further details.

February 12, 2002

  • Alabama's judiciary court ruled that state Supreme Court Justice Harold See may continue to hear cases until his freedom-of-speech dispute with a judicial oversight committee is resolved. In an opinion written by Chief Judge William C. Thompson, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary granted See a preliminary injunction. It bars the state Judicial Inquiry Commission from suspending See from his duties. The inquiry commission had accused See in July 2000 of violating judicial ethics codes for advertisements run during the Republican primary for chief justice. The ads accused See's opponent, Roy Moore, of being soft on drug defendents. Click HERE for more details.

January 14, 2002

  • A recent ruling by a federal judge knocks out Washington lawyer Jack Quinn's main defense against allegations that he violated the very ethics rules he wrote. Quinn was the chief advocate for the presidential pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich and his cohort, Pincus Green. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40965-2002Jan13.html for more details.

     

   

2003 The Federalist Society