Date: Sep 17, 2007

Hofstra Law School Hosts Sixth Biannual Legal Ethics Conference "Lawyering at the Edge: Unpopular Clients, Difficult Cases, Zealous Advocates"

October 14 to 16, 2007

Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, NY:  Hofstra Law School is pleased to announce its upcoming 2007 Legal Ethics Conference, Lawyering at the Edge: Unpopular Clients, Difficult Cases, Zealous Advocates, scheduled for October 14 to 16, 2007 in the Sidney R. Siben and Walter Siben Moot Courtroom (room 308) of Hofstra Law School. Conference Director Roy D. Simon has lined up more than 20 dynamic speakers who will weigh in on controversial issues such as prosecutorial abuse, the challenges of representing prisoners at Guantanamo, and attacks on lawyers who represent unpopular clients and causes.

Michael E. Tigar, the Research Professor of Law, Washington College of Law, Visiting Professor, Duke Law School, and Professeur Invite, Universite Paul Cezanne, will deliver the keynote address on Sunday afternoon, October 14.  The title of his talk will be “The Torturers' Legal Advisers: Professional Responsibility and Human Rights."  Professor Tigar has held full-time academic positions at UCLA and The University of Texas.  He has been a lecturer at dozens of law schools and bar associations in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Latin America.  He is a 1966 graduate of Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley, where he was first in his class, editor-in-chief of the law review and Order of the Coif.

Gerald Lefcourt, a high profile criminal defense attorney, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and founder of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, will deliver the banquet address on Sunday, October 14, at the conference banquet, which will be held at the Garden City Hotel.  His speech is titled, “Why One Wired Phone Call Is Worth $500,000 of Investigation, and Why I Represent ‘Those People.’”

The luncheon speaker on Monday, October 15, is James Farragher Campbell, of the Campbell, DeMetrick & Jacobo law firm in San Francisco, California.  Mr. Campbell has been engaged exclusively in the practice of criminal defense since 1975. He is currently the President of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He was a founding member of the Board of Regents of the National College for DUI Defense and served as Dean of the College in 2000.  He will speak about “Ethical Considerations on Witness Grooming.”

Tuesday’s luncheon speaker will be Raymond Brown from the law firm of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis, in Woodbridge, New Jersey. He is a partner of the firm's Litigation Department and chair of its White Collar Defense & Corporate Compliance Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in internal investigations and all other aspects of white collar criminal defense.  He will speak about "Prosecutors, Power, and Professional Ethics: From the Thompson Memorandum to the International Criminal Court in Sierra Leone."

As usual, Hofstra Law School's Legal Ethics Conference will feature many additional prominent experts in the field of ethics, as well as preeminent criminal defense and civil rights practitioners, including Hofstra Law's own Professor Monroe Freedman; Hofstra Law Professor Leon Friedman; Professor Stephen Gillers from New York University School of Law; Adam Liptak, the national legal correspondent for The New York Times; Professor Abbe Smith from Georgetown University Law Center; Lynne Stewart, who has defended many unpopular clients over the years; and Ronald Kuby, the well known defense attorney and co-host of the WABC morning show, Curtis & Kuby, and guest-anchor on Court TV, who will deliver the last address of the conference on Tuesday afternoon.

For a complete list of conference faculty and further information, contact Dawn Marzella at (516) 463-6889 or lawethics@hofstra.edu, or check the conference Web page at www.law.hofstra.edu/EthicsConference.

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Hofstra Law School was founded in 1970 and is accredited by the ABA, boasting an alumni body of approximately 8,000 graduates. The school is located on campus at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. In addition to its full-time juris doctor (J.D.) degree program, Hofstra Law School offers part-time day and evening J.D. programs as well as graduate degree programs, including an LL.M. Program in American Legal Studies (for foreign law graduates), an LL.M. Program in International Law (for foreign or U.S. law graduates), and a new LL.M. Program in Family Law.

Related Link: Ethics Conference Web site