Cross & Gavel Audio

In August 2016, the American Bar Association, seeking to impose a "cultural shift" on the legal profession and change how lawyers think about gender and marriage, amended Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 8.4. The rule has no legal force-- it simply suggests a "model" from the ABA for states to follow in their ethics codes-- until a particular state adopts it. Yet the Model Rules are influential, followed by many states as a matter of course.  The current rule-- the rule that ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) would amend-- combats invidious discrimination and disciplines lawyers who corrupt the legal process through bias and prejudice in the course of representing a client. The proposed rule would expand the conduct for which lawyers could be disciplined to any "conduct related to the practice of law," which is defined to include "interacting with witnesses, coworkers, court personnel, lawyers and others while engaged in the practice of law; operating or managing a law firm or practice; and participating in bar a