Monroe Freedman, former dean and professor at Hofstra Law School, passed away yesterday. A legendary figure in legal ethics, he will be missed by so many for his warmth, generosity and tremendous and highly influential body of work. In the field of what we now call behavioral legal ethics, Monroe may have been the first scholar to use behavioral insights from psychology with regard to lawyers’ ethics (see Lawyers’ Ethics in an Adversary System (Ch. 6, Counseling the Client: Refreshing Recollection or Prompting Perjury?) (1975)). His subsequent book, Understanding Legal Ethics, continued to make use of the insights from psychology and related fields (See pp. 202-216 (preparing witnesses), 139-140 (confidentiality), 40-41 (adversary system) (3d ed. 2004)).
He will be deeply missed.
[update: LEF readers have been leaving their thoughts about Monroe here].
[Update #2: Prof. Abbe Smith‘s moving remarks about Monroe are here]
[Update #3: Hofstra Law School has re-named the Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics in Monroe’s memory. Information here].
James G. Milles
Molly J. W. Wilson
Tigran Eldred
Behavioral Legal Ethics 