In the past term, the Supreme Court maintained a firm approach towards ethics among members of the bench and bar as their activities relate to the public trust. Implicit in at least four decisions was the public policy requiring uncompromised ethical conduct among the members of the bar and bench and the high priority of protecting the public by demanding compliance from attorneys and judges.
In addition, attorneys should promptly acknowledge and report possible malpractice claims when their policy requires it, even when they possess what they feel is a solid defense to any such claim, if for no other reason than to protect the errant lawyers’ clients who may be damaged by malpractice. The confidentiality in investigations of judges’ misconduct is not absolute, but must yield to a criminal prosecution stemming from the charges that precipitated the investigation of the judge. Law firms and attorneys must continue to abide by the “municipal family” doctrine when they represent public entities, and actively police themselves to prevent actual conflicts of interest. Also, when advising a public entity, an attorney has a common-sense obligation to avoid conflicts and to disqualify himself from the task of providing advice when he is subjected to “competing impulses” that would naturally compromise his independent professional judgment.
