- Judges on Lawyers
Almost 20 percent of all cases taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court last term involved “how lawyers do their jobs,” according to an article by Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal. The story quotes Michigan State University College of Law Prof. Renee Knake who says the lawyer-focused docket was “nothing short of a revolution” and that lawyers need to take note of the 16 cases that dealt in some way with the practice of law. The cases covered areas such as attorney fees and ineffective assistance of counsel. For example, in Perdue v. Kenny A, the 5-4 majority reversed a fee enhancement award for extraordinary results by lawyers, and in Padilla v. Kentucky, the Court held that lawyers had to inform defendants of the immigration consequences of a guilty plea.
Roy Englert of Robbins Russell suggested it was difficult to speculate on larger trends possibly reflected in the cases. He said perhaps the high court believes that the ineffective-assistance precedent of Strickland v. Washington, a decision now 26 years old, is too abstract and no longer provides enough guidance to lower courts.
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| 09:43 AM Jul 6, 2010 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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