Cynthia Godsoe, Abbe Smith, and Ellen Yaroshefsky. “Can You Be a Legal Ethics Scholar and Have Guts?” Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, vol. 35, no. 3 (2022): 429-461.
This article critiques the reluctance of legal ethics scholars—particularly those in academia—to engage publicly and meaningfully with real-world misconduct by lawyers, such as those involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election or prosecutors guilty of serious ethical violations. Drawing on the authors’ own experiences, the piece calls for a more courageous and proactive stance from scholars, arguing that their privileged academic positions come with a responsibility to hold the legal profession accountable. The article also offers a framework for action, including filing disciplinary complaints and embracing a more publicly engaged model of legal ethics scholarship.