Ethics and Environmental Practice: A Lawyer’s Guide

The regulation of lawyers through rules of ethics, statutes, and the common law present a special area concern for environmental lawyers: the stakes in these matters are often high and involve very real issues of public health and safety. Consider these ethical considerations that occur in an environmental practice: Should a lawyer meet with residents considering bringing a toxic tort case before it is file? Are contingency fee agreements appropriate in an environmental tort action? What is the lawyer’s ethical obligation to reveal dangers to the public? When does the lawyer have a duty to assert the attorney-client privilege to reject a nonclient’s claim to information in an environmental report? How should a lawyer analyze conflicts rules when a Superfund site involves hundreds of potentially responsible parties? Because the need for cautious and thorough analysis of ethical questions is of paramount importance when issues of safety are implicated, Ethics and Environmental Practice deals with these critical questions and many more to assist the legal practitioner in understanding and responding to these ethical issues. The book’s authors, all experienced environmental law practitioners, covering all major areas relating to ethics challenges, including: Developing an awareness of ethics issues that may arise Conflicts of interest Confidentiality Issues related to multi-jurisdictional and multidisciplinary practice Interaction with criminal law regimes Litigation trends in lawyer liability Human rights and the environment Comparative environmental systems in the U.S. and other countries Emergency response The lawyer’s role when working with consultants and the media, and more