Foulston Siefkin Lecture, 2012: Monroe H. Freedman

Washburn University School of Law
and the Washburn Law Journal
proudly present the
35th Annual Foulston Siefkin Lecture

Monroe H. Freedman
Professor of Law
Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law

"Prosecutors' Ethics -- Fighting to Sustain Unethical and Unconscionable Conduct on Appeal"

Watch Professor Freedman's lecture (70 minutes)

Photograph: Monroe Freedman.Monroe H. Freedman is widely known as a pioneer in the field of legal ethics and is considered one of the nation's foremost experts in the field. The American Bar Association awarded him its highest honor for professionalism in recognition of his "lifetime of original and influential scholarship in the field of lawyers' ethics." A professor at Hofstra Law school and former dean of the school, Freedman received his A.B. degree from Harvard University and his LL.B. and LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Professor Freedman's Foulston Siefkin Lecture at Washburn University School of Law asserted that, too often, prosecutors' offices make a calculated decision to adopt policies and practices that are unethical and/or unconscionable. For example, it is understandable that a prosecutor, in the heat of trying a case, will sometimes engage in tactics that he or she would not choose to use after adequate reflection. However, when a prosecutors' office justifies that kind of trial conduct on appeal or in response to collateral attack, after there has been ample time for reflection, the unethical and/or unconscionable conduct becomes official office policy. That kind of prosecutorial conduct is inexcusable, and should be subject to severe disciplinary sanctions.

Freedman has authored many pieces that are required readings at law schools around the country. His books include the treatises Lawyers' Ethics in an Adversary System and Understanding Lawyers' Ethics (4th ed. 2010), which he co-authored with Abe Smith. Freedman has also authored law journal articles appearing in the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, and the Michigan Law Review. For the past thirty years, Freedman has lectured annually on legal ethics at Harvard Law School and he has also been a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center since 2007.

Photograph: Audience listening to Monroe Freedman's Foulston Siefkin lecture.


Logo: Foulston Liefkin LLP.
has sponsored the Foulston Siefkin Lecture since 1978 to enrich the
quality of education at Washburn University School of Law.
Articles derived from the lectures are published by
the Washburn Law Journal.