From the Editor . . .

The Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism’s Law School Orientation Program – or How to Get Free CLE Credits in Ethics and Professionalism and Have Fun Doing It!

by Jody L. Peskin

Soon it will be April, birds will sing, flowers will bloom and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism will accept applications for a limited number of attorneys to participate as group leaders in the annual Law School Orientation on Professionalism being held at all five Georgia law schools.

I have participated almost annually since the program’s inception and have found it not only informative, but also fun, and even entertaining. Because of my affection for this program and the benefits it hopes to and does achieve, I want to share information about it with my fellow DeKalb Bar members, so that you too can enjoy an unusual, yet highly important and beneficial type of CLE. This CLE is also free of any CLE charges for those attorneys who participate, and they feed you, too!

A Brief History
(As borrowed heavily from the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism’s “Law School Orientations on Professionalism: Origin and Purpose”)

In the early 1990s the commission began looking into means to encourage practicing attorneys and judges to aspire to a higher level of legal ethics and professionalism. There was also a movement to expand ethics and professionalism programs into the law school curriculum. When the State Bar’s Committee on Professionalism joined with the Chief Justice’s Commission, they came up with the idea of a special program called Law School Orientation on Professionalism which would introduce professionalism at the start of one’s legal education.

The various law schools in Georgia were contacted and agreed to include the program during the orientation of first-year law students. The first orientation programs were held in August and September 1993, and their success caused it to be repeated in 1994. Since then it has become a permanent feature in all five of the law schools in Georgia, with Emory University going so far as to hold an additional session during its second semester.

The Orientation on Professionalism emphasizes the importance of adherence to the code or rules of ethics, while at the same time going beyond the minimum standards required by the profession’s ethics rules and the values of professionalism, including but not limited to competence, civility, integrity, commitment to the rule of law, to justice and to the public good.

Law students learn that this is not only a student exercise, but that lawyers must consider these concepts and act on these tenets throughout their legal careers. They also come to realize that the function of lawyers is to assist clients in reaching results through the proper use of the legal system, to represent client’s interests in a vigorous and committed manner, while at the same time remaining conscious of duties to other lawyers, the legal system, and the community in general.

The program is set up to take two hours and is followed by a reception or lunch depending on the time of day it takes place. The program itself begins with a keynote address by a member of the judiciary or bar leader who discusses personal reflections on the meaning of professionalism. The students, as a single body, are then administered their school’s conduct pledge, signaling their intent to join the community of the law school and embrace its values.

The heart of the program, and my favorite part, is the breakout sessions, where two group leaders from the legal community moderate and assist an assigned group of usually eight to 10 students in reviewing and discussing hypothetical scenarios. These hypotheticals are designed to provoke debate on what actions by the attorney or law student in the scenario should take to meet the minimum standards of professionalism, and what would need to be done to meet the higher aspirations.

The hypotheticals range from law school scenarios to both civil and criminal cases. Law student scenarios cover a wide range of issues, from various forms of cheating to sharing or hiding important information, whether it be from the entire class, a study group or the student’s closest friends. Lawyer cases include situations involving opposing counsel’s fitness to practice (whether it be drugs, alcohol or dementia) to civil issues of discovery and notice, or criminal issues involving conflicts in representation, or whether it’s acceptable to refuse to take on certain types of criminal defendants. The hypotheticals also involve discussion on the proper method for an attorney to approach various issues.

The commission provides suggested questions for the group leaders to ask to get the conversation started, as well as relevant excerpts from the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, A Lawyer’s Creed, Aspirational Statements and General Aspirational Ideals. Many of the hypotheticals come straight out of case law and may be familiar; such cases are also provided for review in the materials sent to group leaders in advance of the CLE.

I have found the program to be fulfilling as well as educational. As a group leader, I not only guide future lawyers to think critically and explore both sides, but also learn from the war stories and examples provided by my fellow group leader. Group leaders include judges and professors as well as fellow practitioners. I have enjoyed the collegiality of the forum, and gained new perspectives on the practice of law regarding the practical, the ethical, and the moral decisions we all must make during our careers. Most of all, I have, I hope, influenced law students to perform to a higher standard both as students and in actual practice once they become fellow members of our profession.