Honors Program Theses

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Open Access Honors Program Thesis

First Advisor

Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn

Keywords

Legal ethics--Attitudes; American Bar Association. House of Delegates. Model rules of professional conduct; American Bar Association. House of Delegates. Model rules of professional conduct--Attitudes;

Abstract

The American Bar Association (ABA) claims a commitment to ethics for all that fall under its jurisdiction. As a part of the Bar Exam that lawyers must take to join the Association they are issued a character and fitness test, where some prior misbehavior may disqualify an individual from becoming barred. “Miscarriages of justice” is a common theme among literature about lawyers in the criminal justice system. In this study I will shed light on some of the ethical discrepancies in the legal profession’s values and practice. This study focuses on criminal lawyers’ experiences with personal ethics as well as their perceptions of the ethics of their colleagues throughout their legal career starting in law school and continuing through their career. Ethical indiscretions are not limited to prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, or even just to the American criminal justice system. In this study I look at how the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct are viewed by practicing attorneys, and delve into the overall perceived ethics of attorneys in Iowa.

Year of Submission

2016

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Date Original

5-2016

Object Description

1 PDF file (30 pages)

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

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