Foreword

Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, The, Summer 2004 by Hettich, Daniel

Legal ethics are not created in a vacuum; rather, they are informed by the world in which we live and provide a gauge of our culture and times. As new challenges arise, the legal profession, as guardian, gatekeeper, and ambassador for many of our most cherished rights and values, adapts in response to these challenges. Because of the evolving nature of legal ethics, each year the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics publishes an issue, written entirely by its staff, on the current developments in the field. Through the Current Developments issue, the Journal seeks to be a forum for new and innovative perspectives while providing a condensed introduction to the subjects as well as the background necessary for further research.

The breadth of topics covered in this year's issue is a testimony to the importance of the legal profession's role in every aspect of modern life and of the important role ethics play in that profession. It is in the Current Developments issue, at the cutting edge of the field, where it is most apparent how legal ethics respond to the changing needs of society.

Some of the topics presented here are an ominous reminder of the threat of terrorism under which we now live (e.g., government monitoring in terrorism cases) and of the corporate scandals that have shaken our nation's economy (e.g., changes to Model Rule 1.6). Some topics discuss new problems (e.g., marketing legal services on the Internet) while others discuss problems that have, unfortunately, stayed with us through the centuries (e.g., racial discrimination in peremptory challenges).

Several topics spotlight issues that are all too easily ignored. There are calls to look candidly at mental illness, both in clients and in lawyers themselves, and at the woefully inadequate availability of representation for the indigent. We are reminded that one of the noblest aspects of the profession is providing a voice to those who, because of poverty or illness, would otherwise remain mute.

The themes are not all somber, however. Other topics reflect the strides being made in advancing the rule of law throughout the world (e.g., the ABA's legal reform efforts in China) and the innovative new approaches to settling disputes more amicably here at home (e.g., arbitrator disclosure in California).

The topics mentioned here are by no means exhaustive. In fact, it is only when the Current Developments issue is viewed in its entirety that it becomes clear how completely ethical issues pervade every aspect of the legal profession: from the brass accented boardrooms of Wall Street to the courtrooms of the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague. As Chief Justice Earl Warren once said, "In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics."

Because of the importance of law within society, and ethics within the law, attorneys must remain ever vigilant, critical, and questioning in order to safeguard the values of our profession. This issue, then, is a small contribution to keeping society civilized and the law afloat.

DANIEL HETTICH, SENIOR NOTES EDITOR