Plenary 7: Do Something! Ethical Responses to Judicial and Lawyer Misconduct

SESSION DESCRIPTION: 

Often ethics programs focus on our own behavior, but what happens when someone else in our professional sphere is engaging in misconduct? This program focuses on the ethical obligations of lawyers and judges to respond to misconduct by other lawyers and judges. In addition to reviewing the rules on reporting misconduct, we will discuss why those rules are important, present some alternatives to traditional reporting, and then explore ways to manage some unfortunately typical scenarios.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Attendees will:

• Learn the ethics rules surrounding reporting misconduct by others and the reason those rules are important.
• Gain an understanding of when misconduct must be reported and available alternatives to reporting, including Lawyers’ Assistance Programs.
• Gain an understanding of common barriers to reporting and the consequences of ignoring misconduct.
• Obtain a list of resources to help with crisis situations.
• Gain insight on ways to manage unfortunately common types of misconduct

An overview of the ethical duty to respond to misconduct by others, this program presents the relevant rules and practical examples of their application, including alternatives to traditional reporting, resources to consult, and thoughts on managing some common scenarios.  

Tim O’Brien, Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board

Timothy O’Brien is the Chair of the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards, which enforces the Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct, interprets the Code for judges, and provides educational programming for judges and others about Code provisions. Mr. O’Brien is a retired partner and litigator in the Minneapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP. He has served as Chair and Member of the Minnesota Client Security Board and Minnesota Lawyers Board on Judicial Standards, on the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, the Board of Governors of the Minnesota Bar Association, the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection, the American College of Construction Lawyers, and on the National Panel of Construction Arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association. Mr. O’Brien has written and spoken on issues including construction defect lawsuits and alternative dispute resolutions.

Hal R. Lieberman, Partner, ECBAWM

Hal Lieberman, a partner with Emery Celli Brinkerhoff Abady Ward & Mazel LLP in New York City, focuses his practice on legal ethics, professional and judicial discipline, ethics expert testimony, malpractice, law firm disputes, and motions to disqualify and sanction counsel. Over the past four decades, he has prosecuted and defended hundreds of lawyers and law firms before disciplinary and grievance committees in connection with lawyer discipline complaints, formal disciplinary prosecutions, reciprocal discipline proceedings, post-conviction disciplinary proceedings, reinstatements, and matters related to bar admissions before the several New York character and fitness committees. He gained early experience in disciplinary proceedings in his former roles as an Assistant Bar Counsel in Massachusetts and Principal Trial Attorney and Chief Counsel for the Departmental Disciplinary Committee in New York’s First Department.

Mr. Lieberman is the co-author of “New York Attorney Discipline” and a regular columnist for the New York Law Journal on the subject of Professional Discipline. He is frequently retained to prepare attorney ethics expert opinions.

In addition to his practice, Mr. Lieberman has been a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School teaching legal ethics, has lectured widely, and published numerous articles on the subjects of legal ethics and professional discipline. He has testified as an expert in legal ethics in more than 50 civil and criminal matters concerning disqualification motions, legal malpractice claims, partnership disputes, fee disputes, and numerous issues involving interpretation and application of the Rules of Professional Conduct. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School.

Mary Andreoni, Ethics Education Senior Counsel, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission

 MARY F. ANDREONI is Ethics Education Senior Counsel for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) where she develops and implements the ARDC’s ethics education initiatives. She has authored many articles including the ARDC publications, Client Trust Account Handbook, The Basic Steps to Ethically Closing a Law Practice, and Leaving a Law Firm: A Guide to the Ethical Obligations in Law Firm Departure, a frequent contributor to the Illinois Courts Connect newsletter, and a creator of several recent ARDC webcasts on succession planning, trust accounting and alternative fee structures. She has also spoken at hundreds of programs on legal ethics. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Andreoni was law clerk to Illinois Appellate Court Justice Mel R. Jiganti and later practiced commercial litigation with the law firm of Peterson & Ross in Chicago. While in practice, she also served as a board member on the ARDC Inquiry and Hearing Boards. Active in the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), she has served on a number of committees, and is past chair of the CBA Professional Responsibility Committee (2014-2015). Ms. Andreoni received her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago.

Hon. Lucy Inman, Partner, Bryson Harrison Suciu & DeMay (Moderator)

Lucy Inman, a partner in the Raleigh office of Bryson Harrison Suciu & DeMay, brings to her litigation practice decades of experience as both an advocate and a trial and appellate judge. In addition to representing consumers in class actions and individual tort claims, Lucy serves as an arbitrator in commercial disputes nationwide. She practices in California and North Carolina and has represented clients in state and federal courts throughout the United States.

From 2015 through 2022, Lucy served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, authoring more than 450 opinions in constitutional, criminal, civil, and administrative law cases. From 2010 through 2014, Lucy served as a North Carolina Superior Court judge. Before joining the bench, Lucy practiced commercial, employment, and personal injury litigation in California and North Carolina, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil disputes.

Lucy serves on the board of the Council of Appellate Lawyers within the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division and as a trustee of the National Civil Justice Institute, a nonprofit organization providing education and scholarship for state appellate judges. She has presented continuing education programs for the bench and bar on topics including writing, trial and appellate practice, and the connection between wellness and professional ethics. Lucy is a graduate of NC State University and The University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. Her early work as a journalist reporting on courts inspired her to pursue a legal career.