Margaret Tarkington, Indiana University McKinney School of Law (US) (Moderator); Renee Newman Knake, Michigan State University College of Law (US); Jan L. Jacobowitz, University of Miami School of Law (US); Alex Long, University of Tennessee College of Law (US); Allan Hutchinson, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (Canada); and Greg Beck, Greg Beck Law Office (US)

Approaching Free Speech and Lawyer Regulation

There are numerous contexts in which regulations on attorney and judicial speech seem at odds with established doctrines of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Similarly, in other countries, lawyer regulations may be at odds with free speech principles and related rights. Courts and commentators continue to provide widely conflicting views about the appropriate recognition and scope of attorney free speech rights—especially in contexts where the lawyer is engaged in law practice and thus is viewed as an "officer of the court." What are the extent of an attorney’s free speech rights, if any, in the face of regulations related to the attorney’s practice and profession? Do lawyers have free speech and associated rights as to regulations concerning advising and associating with clients, confidentiality, pretrial and post-trial publicity, civility, or judicial campaign speech? Can the recognition of such rights for lawyers and judges be squared with a proper functioning of the justice system? Members of this panel will explore the appropriate scope of free speech rights for lawyers both in general and in specific modern contexts and cases.

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