[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

your explorations also will help you map out the kind of lawyer you want to be.
Problem
1-5. During negotiations, Buyer’s lawyer agrees on behalf of his client to pay an
additional $50,000 because Martyn, representing Seller, has assured him that “the land is
zoned for ten lots.” Martyn had checked the zoning just before the negotiation and in fact
knew it was zoned for only one lot. Is Martyn in trouble? What kind?
1. See also Neil Hamilton & Verna Monson, The Positive Empirical Relationship of Professionalism to Effectiveness in
the Practice of Law, 24 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 137 (2011) (emphasizing the need for self-reflection over an entire career
and empirical research on the impact of law firm culture on lawyer behavior).
2. E.g., David Luban, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge U. Press 2007).
3. Timothy P. Terrell, Turmoil at the Normative Core of Lawyering: Uncomfortable Lessons from the “Metaethics” of
Legal Ethics, 49 Emory L.J. 87 (2000.
4. See David Luban, Lawyers and Justice: An Ethical Study at xx (Princeton U. Press 1988).
5. See James E. Moliterno, Ethics of the Lawyer’s Work 129-130 (2d ed., West 2003); Symposium, Client Counseling
and Moral Responsibility, 30 Pepp. L. Rev. 591 (2003).
6. Some emphasize that client loyalty should dictate the lawyer’s moral judgment in deciding which clients to
represent. See, e.g., Monroe H. Freedman, A Critique of Philosophizing About Lawyers’ Ethics, 25 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 91
(2012).
7. David A. Binder, Paul B. Bergman, Susan C. Price & Paul R. Trembly, Lawyers as Counselors: A Client-Centered
Approach 9-11 (2d ed. West 2004).
8. Richard Wasserstrom, Lawyers as Professionals: Some Moral Issues, 5 Hum. Rights 1(1975).
9. See William H. Simon, The Practice of Justice; A Theory of Lawyers’ Ethics 53-76 (Harvard U. Press 1998).
10. Eli Wald & Russell Pierce, Being Good Lawyers: A Relational Approach to Law Practice, 24 Geo. J. Legal Ethics
601 (2016).
11. Clark D. Cunningham, The Lawyer as Translator, Representation as Text: Towards an Ethnography of Legal
Discourse, 77 Cornell L. Rev. 1298 (1992).
12. William F. May, Beleaguered Rulers: The Public Obligation of the Professional 80 (Westminster John Knox 2001).
13. Katherine R. Kruse, The Jurisprudential Turn in Legal Ethics, 53 Ariz. L. Rev. 493 (2011).
14. See James Boyd White, The Edge of Meaning 223-226, 250-251 (U. Chi. Press 2001), discussed in Lawyer’s Roles:
Zealous Representation Within the Bounds of the Law, infra Chapter 8.
15. Fred C. Zacharis, Integrity Ethics, 22 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 541 (2009).
1. We cite the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct as “MR” in this volume.
2. We cite this Restatement as “RLGL” in this volume.
3. The ABA is a private organization of lawyers. At any given time, one third to more than one half of licensed U.S.
lawyers have been members.
4. RLGL § 5, ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions (1992).
5. See, e.g., Morrell v. State, 575 P.2d 1200 (Alaska 1978).
6. MR Preamble and Scope 20; RLGL § 52(2).
7. RLGL § 6.
8. E.g., In re Halverson, 998 P.2d 833 (Wash. 2000) (lawyer who had sexual relationship with client suspended from
practice for six months, five years after he settled a civil suit by the client for a “substantial sum”); People v. Sichta, 948
P.2d 1018 (Colo. 1998) (lawyer convicted of security and wire fraud disbarred).
9. This usage parallels the use of the term “may” in the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, where
“may” “asks whether the conduct referred to or described in the question is professionally appropriate in that it:
a. would not subject the lawyer . . . to discipline; and
b. is not inconsistent with the Preamble, Comments, or text of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct . . . ;
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