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Law

The legal profession has been transformed over the past three decades by intensifying competition and an obsessive focus on profits and the bottom line. Lawyers at all levels are under more pressure to bill many hours, leading to more overbilling, and the prospect of riches through corporate deals and litigation has led many lawyers to lower their ethical standards. Meanwhile, self-regulation by the legal profession has been a total failure.

Tobacco Lawsuit Scandal
Amid allegations of fraudulent billing, the five law firms that worked to get the $25 billion settlement to the state of New York from tobacco firms in State of New York v. Philip Morris are in danger of having their $625 million in legal fees reviewed by the New York Court of Appeals.

The Overbilling Epidemic

A Growing body of scholarship documents the pervasive problem of overbilling by lawyers. Top white-shoe firms are among those places where this practice is rampant.

	An extensive bibliography of work that documents and discusses the overbilling problem.
	Overbilling exposed at Clifford Chance, world's biggest law firm.

Dirty Middlemen: Lawyers and the Corporate Scandals

Many of the crooked dealings exposed in the recent corporate scandals were facilitated by top law firms. While few lawyers have been punished for their role in the scandals, Sarbanes-Oxley now imposes greater accountability on lawyers.

	Lawyers evade responsibility for role in corporate wrongdoing.
	Tougher rules needed to clean up corporate law.
	Vinson & Elkins turned blind eye as Enron counsel.
	Vinson & Elkins may have known about Enron abuses.
	Speech by Sen. John Edwards: Why lawyers must be forced to expose wrongdoing.
	Sarbanes-Oxley requires lawyers to blow whistle on corporate fraud.
	Detailed summary of Sarbanes-Oxley provisions imposing greater accountability on corporate lawyers.

The Failure of Self-Regulation

In theory, the legal profession polices itself through state bar associations. In practice, few lawyers are punished for unethical behavior.

	Research study: Disciplinary system for lawyers is badly broken.
	Why state bar associations fail to police the legal system.

Links

EthicalEsq? - A blog advocating "client-centered legal ethics"

Overlawyered.com - Exploring the harmful, and often laughable, aspects of the American legal system

Halt.org - An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform

The Federal Trade Commission - One of the only governmental institutions specifically trying to crack down on corruption and dishonesty within the legal profession

The ABA Center for Legal Responsibility - Read more about the ethics imposed -- or not imposed -- on lawyers by the American Bar Association