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Ethics/Professional Responsibility

May 11, 2010

An Unavoidable Conflict of Interest

Private lawyers exercising the power of the state under contingency fee contracts cannot be expected to act in the public's interest when their own interests are at stake, write Alan Lange and Tom Dawson.

By Alan Lange and Tom Dawson

"What I call the "magic jurisdiction," [is] where the judiciary is elected with verdict money. The trial lawyers have established relationships with the judges that are elected; they're State Court judges; they're popul[ists]. They've got large populations of voters who are in on the deal, they're getting their [piece] in many cases. And so, it's a political force in their jurisdiction, an...

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