In re LSBA Committee File No. 6784

Supreme Court of Louisiana
In re LSBA Committee File No. 6784, 483 So. 2d 1008 (La. 1986)
Calogero, Dixon

In re LSBA Committee File No. 6784

Opinion of the Court

CALOGERO, J.,

additionally concurs. The Committee’s reprimand is supported by the disciplinary rule and the facts. We cannot condone this attorney’s conduct by examining his motives. To do so is to invite attorneys to violate this ethical rule.

Dissenting Opinion

DIXON, C.J.,

respectfully dissents from the refusal of the court to grant relief in this appeal by a lawyer from a private reprimand. It is my view that it was more important, in every respect, to record the evidence against crooked witnesses than to stop the phone conversation until he could obtain the consent of the party’s lawyer.

Sports rules are interpreted literally. Rules of law and ethical conduct are not. A highly developed sense of discrimination is required. Literal interpretation of the Canons of Ethics can lead to the same irrational conclusions as literal interpretation of scripture.

The lawyer violated a rule of ethical conduct. The violation should be excused under the doctrine of necessity, a defense almost universally recognized, even to charges of violation of criminal statutes. Section 3.02, A.L.I. Model Penal Code.

Reference

Full Case Name
In Re LSBA COMMITTEE FILE NO. 6784
Status
Published