{"id":155231,"date":"2026-06-22T14:49:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/22\/legal-ethics-roundup-when-lawyers-protest-scotx-says-self-rep-lawyer-can-contact-opposing-party-and-more\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:49:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:49:38","slug":"legal-ethics-roundup-when-lawyers-protest-scotx-says-self-rep-lawyer-can-contact-opposing-party-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/22\/legal-ethics-roundup-when-lawyers-protest-scotx-says-self-rep-lawyer-can-contact-opposing-party-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Ethics Roundup:\u00a0When Lawyers Protest, SCOTX Says Self-Rep Lawyer Can Contact Opposing Party, And More!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Renee Knake Jefferson back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, Legal Ethics Roundup,\u00a0<\/strong>here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to what captivates, haunts, inspires, and surprises me every week in the world of legal ethics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Happy Monday!<\/p>\n

Last week was a flurry of teaching and publishing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m teaching two classes this summer \u2013 the mandatory upper-level law school class \u201cProfessional Responsibility\u201d and a writing seminar \u201cLeadership, Law & Power.\u201d<\/p>\n

I continued to\u00a0engage with journalists<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0covering discipline in the federal judiciary, this week quoted in the\u00a0Bloomberg Law<\/strong>\u00a0article, \u201cJudges\u2019 Misconduct Cases Bring Extra Scrutiny to Strained Courts.<\/strong>\u201d Here\u2019s a brief excerpt:<\/p>\n

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The recent conduct also raises broader questions on whether the existing systems set up to hold federal judges accountable are effective, as judges face heightened scrutiny in an increasingly politicized environment, said\u00a0Renee Knake Jefferson<\/strong>, a University of Houston judicial ethics expert. \u201cThe danger is not merely reputational harm to those individual judges but an erosion of public confidence in the judiciary as an institution,\u201d Jefferson added. \u2026 Jefferson said serious personal misconduct doesn\u2019t always implicate a judge\u2019s behavior on the bench, but that the judiciary has recognized that those unrelated misdeeds can impact the courts. \u201cThe question is often not whether the conduct affected a particular case, but whether it undermines confidence in the judge\u2019s ability to uphold the standards of the office,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My op-ed on solving unmet legal needs and restoring public trust in the justice system was published in the\u00a0517 Business Magazine<\/strong>. An excerpt is featured below and you can read it in full\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, my\u00a0Michigan Law Review<\/strong>\u00a0piece\u00a0\u201cWhen Lawyers Protest\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0was published as part of the annual book review issue. Here\u2019s the abstract:<\/p>\n

Download the full Review for free here.<\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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What happens when lawyers take to the streets? In May 2025, more than 10,000 lawyers across the United States participated in coordinated \u2018Law Day\u2019 demonstrations to defend the rule of law, judicial independence, and constitutional governance. Just four years earlier, however, lawyers played prominent roles in efforts that culminated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. These contrasting events expose a fundamental but largely unexplored question in legal ethics: When does lawyer activism strengthen the rule of law, and when does it undermine it?<\/p>\n

This Review uses two recent books,\u00a0Lawyer Nation<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Ray Brescia<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Canceling Lawyers<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0W. Bradley Wendel<\/strong>, as a lens through which to examine the ethical obligations of lawyers who engage in protest and other forms of public activism. Although neither book focuses directly on protest, both illuminate the legal profession\u2019s relationship to democracy, accountability, dissent, and the rule of law. Drawing on their historical accounts and contemporary case studies, this Review argues that lawyer protest reveals a significant gap in professional regulation. While lawyers are instructed to uphold the rule of law as officers of the legal system and public citizens, existing professional conduct rules provide little practical guidance about how lawyers should navigate activism undertaken outside the context of client representation.<\/p>\n

The Review develops a framework for understanding lawyer protest through case studies ranging from the civil rights movement and climate activism to January 6 and contemporary rule-of-law demonstrations. It argues that legal ethics should neither discourage lawyer participation in democratic protest nor leave such participation entirely unregulated. Instead, professional norms should cultivate protest that advances democratic values, accountability, and constitutional governance while establishing clearer safeguards against conduct that threatens legal institutions and the rule of law itself. In the absence of formal reform, law schools, bar organizations, and nonprofit institutions can play an important role in preparing lawyers to meet these responsibilities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Highlights from Last Week \u2013 Top Ten Headlines <\/strong><\/p>\n

#1 \u201cLawyers Take to the Streets To Defend the Rule of Law.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From the\u00a0New York State Bar Association:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cLawyers filled Foley Square in New York City Tuesday to rededicate themselves to defending the rule of law. The theme of the rally was \u2018Time to Lawyer Up,\u2019 with speakers encouraging lawyers to step up and take on more pro-bono work defending immigrants and federal workers and protecting voting rights.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#2 \u201cJudge Denies Hannah Dugan\u2019s Bid to Overturn Jury Verdict in ICE Case.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0From the\u00a0Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA federal judge has denied former\u00a0Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0bid to overturn a jury\u2019s verdict that she obstructed ICE agents outside her courtroom in April 2025, putting the case back on track for sentencing.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#3 \u201cWhat the CLEAR Report Means for Regulation of the Legal Profession.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Chief Justice Megan K. Cavanah\u00a0<\/strong>in the\u00a0Michigan Bar Journal:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c\u2018If you can \u2018think\u2019 like a lawyer, does that mean you can \u2018act\u2019 like a lawyer?\u2019 That\u2019s the question asked and answered in a report published last year by the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (the CLEAR report). Endorsed by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), the report reflects a wide-ranging stakeholder analysis that included feedback from thousands of judges, attorneys, and law students. What did CLEAR find?\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#4 \u201cJudge Recuses Herself in Georgia Voter Rolls Case.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Politico:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAn embattled federal judge in Atlanta has agreed to the Justice Department\u2019s request that she step aside from a federal lawsuit seeking access to Georgia\u2019s voter rolls. In\u00a0an order dated Monday and released Tuesday<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross<\/strong>\u00a0said she was recusing herself from the case due to her attendance at a political event in 2024 for\u00a0Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis<\/strong>, who brought a criminal case against President Donald Trump for tampering with the 2020 presidential election.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#5 \u201cTexas Lawyer Beats Suspension Over Opponent No-Contact Rule.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cTexas disciplinary rules don\u2019t expressly bar an attorney representing himself from contacting an opposing party he knows to be represented by counsel, the state supreme court ruled Friday. Suggesting perhaps an administrative change is coming to prohibit such communications, the justices said the case before them wasn\u2019t the appropriate place to make that change. \u2018We do not revise our rules by opinion,\u2019\u00a0Justice Debra Lehrmann<\/strong>\u00a0wrote for a nearly unanimous court. The court\u2019s interpretation of the no-contact rule wipes out a five-year suspension a trial court had imposed against licensed attorney\u00a0William Ruth<\/strong>, which an appeals court had upheld.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#6 \u201cUniversity of Texas Law Alters AI Policy to Stop Skills Loss.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe University of Texas School of Law\u2019s dean is calling for a new approach with generative artificial intelligence policies to counter the risk that the technology will erode the learning of essential skills. Faculty should emphasize Socratic-style questioning in teaching,\u00a0Dean Robert \u2018Bobby\u2019 Chesney<\/strong>\u00a0said in a Tuesday\u00a0memo<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to staff. They should view classroom time as \u2018the sole context in which a professor can be certain\u2019 a student is learning without AI.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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#7 \u201cSCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Denied Acquittal Or Retrial<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Law360:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cA Maryland federal judge on Tuesday denied SCOTUSblog founder\u00a0Tom Goldstein\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0bid for an acquittal or new trial, rejecting his claims that issues with jury instructions and excluded evidence warranted a do-over in his tax evasion and mortgage fraud case.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#8 \u201cSupreme Court Won\u2019t Hear Bid By Suspended Judge, 98, to Keep Her Job.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0USA Today:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe U.S. Supreme Court declined on June 15 to hear a bid by the nation\u2019s oldest federal judge, 98-year-old\u00a0Pauline Newman<\/strong>, to overturn her suspension from duties in 2023 during an investigation into her fitness to serve.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#9 \u201cAI Competence is No Longer Optional, Judges Tell Bar Convention<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0The Florida Bar<\/strong>\u00a0News:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFlorida lawyers have a duty to familiarize themselves with AI, a technology that is already transforming the practice of law and the rules of court procedure, veteran judges warned a symposium June 17 at The Florida Bar Convention in Orlando. \u2018We all have a basic requirement to competency and something everybody is going to have to do on this front is at least understand the broad concepts of how these tools work,\u2019 said\u00a0U.S. Magistrate Judge Nicholas Mizell<\/strong>, who presides in Ft. Myers in the Middle District of Florida.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

#10 \u201cEx-Trump Lawyer Wants Reprimanded Judge\u2019s Jan. 6 Ruling Vacated.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>From\u00a0Bloomberg Law:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFormer Trump White House lawyer\u00a0Stefan Passantino<\/strong>\u00a0asked a censured federal trial judge in Atlanta to vacate her previous ruling against him in a lawsuit challenging the US House Jan. 6 Committee, citing the judge\u2019s close ties to\u00a0Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis<\/strong>.\u00a0Judge Eleanor Ross of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia<\/strong>\u00a0has already admitted that she attended a campaign victory party for Willis and recused herself from another political case involving the US Justice Department\u2019s attempt to obtain Georgia voter rolls, Passantino\u2019s Thursday motion said.\u201d Read more\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Keep in Touch<\/strong><\/p>\n