FORWARD

Hon. E. Spencer Abraham

SPEECHES

INSEPARABLE CHARACTER AND COURAGE IN THE PRESIDENCY
President Gerald R. Ford

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: BECAUSE I PROMISED THEM I WOULD COME
Professor Roger Wilkins

LAWYERS: HEALERS OF CONFLICT, NOT HIRED GUNS
Hon. Robert P. Young, Jr.

ESSAYS & ARTICLES

INFUSING ETHICS INTO THE CURRICULUM
Nancy Wonch

COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN DEFENSE OF TIMOTHY McVEIGH
Professor Randall Coyne

A CHECK-UP ON THE HEALTH OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION
John Berry

SARBANES-OXLEY AND "NOISY WITHDRAWAL"; SILENCE MAY NOT BE GOLDEN
Thomas Rasmusson

FORWARD - Hon. E. Spencer Abraham
It is a privilege for me to help inaugurate this first issue of the Cooley Journal of Ethics & Responsibility. I have been involved with the Law School at many points in my career, including serving as a law professor from 1981 to 1983. The Cooley Law School’s publication of a journal devoted to ethics marks an important milestone, both for the legal community and for the school itself.

INSEPARABLE CHARACTER AND COURAGE IN THE PRESIDENCY - President Gerald R. Ford - The Republic had endured the sabotage of attempted state secession, wars both civil and international, and varying degrees of economic depression. Yet it had never encountered, nor had the founders ever anticipated, the type of systemic crisis that would rise in the wake of President Nixon’s unprecedented resignation.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: BECAUSE I PROMISED THEM I WOULD COME - Professor Roger Wilkins - It is neither by whim or fiat that the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. should become a model for review in the inaugural edition of a law journal devoted to ethics and personal responsibility. Nor is it by separate fortune that this narration should come from such an intimate friend of Dr. King’s, a great contributor to the causes of service and selflessness in his own right, Mr. Roger Wilkins.

LAWYERS: HEALERS OF CONFLICT, NOT HIRED GUNS - Hon. Robert P. Young, Jr. - Through his exposition on ethics, Justice Young embraces the idea that lawyers may still act as healers and zealous advocates so long as they remain grounded in a foundation of professionalism and personal responsibility. We are honored that Justice Young has become an ally in the cause to return an accounting of these principles to the academy, bench, and bar.

INFUSING ETHICS INTO THE CURRICULUM - Nancy Wonch - I came to Thomas M. Cooley Law School two years ago on a mission. With nearly 24 years of civil litigation practice, seven years as a member (two as chairperson) of the State Bar of Michigan Subcommittees on Professional and Judicial Ethics, and six years on Michigan’s Attorney Discipline Board, I contribute a practical perspective to the teaching of Professional Responsibility.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN DEFENSE OF TIMOTHY McVEIGH - Professor Randall Coyne - A lawyer represents a client in one of the highest-profile capital cases in our nation’s history. In this essay, he opens his soul to the public, sharing his very personal story and the agonizing life-lessons he learned.

A CHECK-UP ON THE HEALTH OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION - John Berry - In this essay, the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Professionalism takes a refreshingly honest look at the health of the legal profession. Concluding that we need more than professionalism codes to cure chronic unprofessional conduct, he suggests some strong medicine, and notes the importance of beginning with individual hearts.

SARBANES-OXLEY AND "NOISY WITHDRAWAL"; SILENCE MAY NOT BE GOLDEN - Thomas Rasmusson - Sarbanes-Oxley establishes beyond dispute that when an attorney represents a corporation, the corporation is the client and the attorney owes the fiduciary duty to the corporation, not its officers or directors. The statute also places new duties on attorneys representing publicly traded corporations to disclose misconduct by the corporation’s officers, directors, employees or agents.