Ethics 103: Extrajudicial Attorney Speech
This online course does not examine the areas of lawyer solicitation and lawyer advertising. These are types of speech that are classified as commercial speech. Under our First Amendment jurisprudence, commercial speech is not entitled to the same level of protection as political speech. This course also does not deal with attorney speech inside the courtroom, which can be tightly controlled by the judge.
This course deals with extrajudicial attorney speech - speech that has become more prevalent and necessary in this age of increased media coverage and interest.Attorneys often must defend their clients in the Court of Public Opinion as well as the courtroom to fulfill their ethical duty of zealously representing their clients. Sometimes attorneys are sanctioned for violating ethical duties regulating extrajudicial speech. This online course examines the leading Supreme Court case on this issue and then presents participants with several fact patterns drawn from real appellate case.