Justia Legal Ethics Opinion Summaries

The district court denied a petition for habeas corpus by an inmate serving 40 years for attempted murder and aggravated battery on a senior citizen and certified three issues as appealable. The Seventh Circuit clarified the obligation of appointed appellate counsel. Counsel has no obligation to argue claims, urged by the client, that were not certified as appealable, but could request amendment of the certificate if the claims are debatable. If counsel regards certified issues as frivolous those issues need not be argued and counsel should inform the court. Because prisoners do not have a right to appointed counsel on collateral claims there is no tension between the constitutional right to representation and the ethical obligation to not advance frivolous claims.

After his state conviction for murder was overturned, the plaintiff brought federal claims against state officials and prosecutors and malpractice claims against his own lawyers. He stipulated to dismissal of claims against officials; the district court entered summary judgment, rejecting the malpractice claims. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, holding that the plaintiff failed to establish proximate cause, as a matter of law. A report by plaintiff's expert did not establish that the attorneys' performance during voir dire caused the guilty verdict.