This term the Supreme Court will consider over a dozen cases addressing the role of lawyers and regulation of the profession. The issues raised include the First Amendment rights of lawyers to give advice, attorney compensation under fee-shifting statues, the immediate appeal of a ruling on attorney-client privilege, civil liability for prosecutorial misconduct, and the standards for finding ineffective assistance of counsel when an attorney gives faulty advice, lacks experience, misses a deadline, delivers a poor closing argument, or offers insufficient mitigation evidence. This body of cases represents a significant departure from dockets in recent history, where typically the Court has considered no more than two or three matters involving the law of lawyering.
This panel will explore the meaning of these cases. Is the unprecedented number of lawyering cases merely a coincidence, or perhaps a signal of an emerging trend? How might the outcomes of the cases impact future regulation of the legal profession? Will these cases alter the ethical obligations and legal duties of lawyers? The panel offers an opportunity to hear from a unique combination of perspectives including experts on regulation of the legal profession as well as authors of amicus briefs in these cases.