Regulating the Behavior of Lawyers in Mass Individual Representations: A Call for Reform.

Authors

Richard Zitrin

First Page

86

Date Created

1-1-2013

Publisher

St. Mary's University School of Law

Editor

Charles Ipock

Last Page

111

Abstract

Cases in which lawyers represent large numbers of individual plaintiffs are increasingly common. While these cases have some of the indicia of class actions, they are not class actions, usually because there are no common damages, but rather individual representations on a mass scale. Current ethics rules do not provide adequate guidance for even the most ethical lawyers. The absence of sufficiently flexible, practical ethical rules has become an open invitation for less-ethical attorneys to abuse, often severely, the mass-representation problem. It is necessary to reform the current rules, but only with a solution that is both practical and attainable, and with changes that maintain the core ethical and fiduciary duties owed by lawyers to their individual clients, including loyalty, candor, and independent professional advice.

Recommended Citation

Richard Zitrin, Regulating the Behavior of Lawyers in Mass Individual Representations: A Call for Reform., 3 St. Mary's J. on Legal Malpractice & Ethics 86 (2013).
Available at: https://commons.stmarytx.edu/lmej/vol3/iss1/3