Bruce Green

Bruce A. Green is the Louis Stein Chair at Fordham Law School, where he directs the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics. He teaches and writes primarily in the areas of legal ethics and criminal law, and is involved in various bar association activities. 

Currently, Professor Green chairs and is a member and past chair of the NY State Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics. He previously chaired the NYC Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics, the ABA Criminal Justice Section, and the ABA Criminal Justice Standards Committee and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination drafting committee.  He also served on the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, was the Reporter to both the ABA Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege and the ABA Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice, and co-chaired the ethics committee of the ABA Litigation Section and Criminal Justice Section. 

Since joining the Fordham faculty in 1987, Professor Green has engaged in various part-time public service, including as a member of the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board, as a member of the attorney disciplinary committee in Manhattan, as Associate Counsel in the office of the Iran/Contra prosecutor, and as a consultant and special investigator for the NYS Commission on Government Integrity. Previously, Professor Green was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, where he served as Chief Appellate Attorney, and he was a judicial law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall and Circuit Judge James L. Oakes. In May 2018, Professor Green received the Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award, given by the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility.

Other Legal Employment

Full-Time Legal Employment

• New York University School of Law: Visiting Professor: January-May 2007
• Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York:   
           October 1983 to August 1987, Assistant United States Attorney
           Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney, 1986-87;
           Chief Appellate Attorney, 1987
• U.S. Supreme Court:  Law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1982-83
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit:  Law clerk to Judge James L. Oakes, 1981-82

Part-Time Legal Positions

• Departmental Disciplinary Committee, App. Div., 1st Department: Member, 1997-2002
• New York City Conflicts of Interest Board: Member, Nov. 1995 to March 2005
• Handschu Authority: Civilian member, July 1994 to Nov. 1995
• Office of Investigations Officer (U.S. v. I.B.T.): Special Counsel (part-time), 1991 
• Office of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh: Associate Counsel (part-time), 1988-91 
• N.Y.S. Commission on Government Integrity: Consultant and special investigator, 1988-90

Education

• Columbia University School of Law: JD 1981
  Honors: James Kent Scholar;
  Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
  Associate Editor, Columbia Law Review
• Princeton University: AB 1978, summa cum laude

Selected Publications

• Why State Courts Should Authorize Non-Lawyers to Practice Law, Fordham Law Review, 91 Fordham L. Rev. 1249 (2023)
  
  
• Lawyers and the Lies They Tell, 69 Wash. U. J. Law & Pol’y 37 (2022) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
  
  
• Impeaching Legal Ethics, 49 Fla. St. Univ. L. Rev. 447 (2022) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
  
  
• ABA Model Rule 8.4(g), Discriminatory Speech and the First Amendment, 50 Hofstra L. Rev. 543 (2022) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
  
  
• Should Victims’ Views Influence Prosecutors’ Decisions?, 87 Brooklyn L. Rev. 1127 (2022) (with Brandon P. Ruben)
  
  
• Selectively Disciplining Advocates, 54 Conn. L. Rev. 151 (2022)

• [email protected], 18 Nw. J. Tech. & Intell. Prop. 265 (2021) (with Carole Silver), [email protected]com by Carole Silver, Bruce A. Green :: SSRN

• Who Should Police Politicization of the DOJ?, 35 Notre Dame J. L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 671 (2021) (with Rebecca Roiphe) 

• Bar Authorities and Prosecutors(Chapter 15), forthcoming in Oxford Handbook on Prosecutors and Prosecution (Ronald W. Wright et al., ed. 2021)

• When Prosecutors Politick: Progressive Law Enforcers Then and Now, 110 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 719 (2020) (with Rebecca Roiphe)

• May Class Counsel Also Represent Lead Plaintiffs?, 72 Florida L. Rev. 1083 (2020)(with Andrew Kent)

• Victims’ Rights from a Restorative Perspective, 17 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 293 (2020) (with Lara Bazelon)

• Should Criminal Justice Reformers Care About Prosecutorial Ethics Rules?, 58 Duquesne L. Rev. 249 (2020) (with Ellen Yaroshefsky)

• Restorative Justice from Prosecutors’ Perspective, 88 Fordham L. Rev. 2287 (2020) (with Lara Bazelon)

• A Fiduciary Theory of Prosecution, 69 Am. U. L. Rev. 805 (2020) (with Rebecca Roiphe)

• The Supreme Court's Supervisory Authority over Federal Criminal Cases: The Warren Court Revolution That might have Been, 49 Stetson L. Rev. 241 (2020)
• Punishment Without Process: “Victim Impact” Proceedings for Dead Defendants, Fordham Law Review Online, vol. 88 (2019) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
• Regulating Prosecutors' Courtroom Misconduct, 50 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 797 (2019)
• Prosecutorial Discretion: The Difficulty and Necessity of Public Inquiry, 123 Dickinson L. Rev. 589 (2019)
• Prosecutors in the Court of Public Opinion, 57 Duquesne L. Rev. 271 (2019)
• Judicial Activism in Trial Courts, 4 N.Y.U. Ann. Survey of Am. Law 365 (2019) with Rebecca Roiphe)
• May Federal Prosecutors Take Direction from the President?, 87 Fordham L. Rev. 1817 (2019) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
• Can the President Control the Department of Justice?, 70 Ala. L. Rev. 1 (2018) (with Rebecca Roiphe
• The Right to Two Criminal Defense Lawyers, 69 Mercer L. Rev. 675 (2018)
• The Challenges and Rewards of Teaching Legal Ethics, The Professional Lawyer, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 3-7 (2018)
• May Lawyers Assist Clients in Some Unlawful Conduct?: A Response to Paul Tremblay, 70 Fla. L. Rev. F. 1 (2018)
• Urban Policing and Public Policy – the Prosecutor’s Role, 51 Georgia L. Rev. 1179 (2017)
• Prosecutorial Ethics in Retrospect, 30 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 461 (2017)
• The Price of Judicial Economy in the US, 7 Oñati Socio-Legal Series no.4 (2017)
• Rethinking Prosecutors’ Conflicts of Interest, 58 Boston College Law Review 463 (2017) (with Rebecca Roiphe)
• Prosecutorial Accountability 2.0, 92 Notre Dame Law Review 51 (2016) (with Ellen Yaroshefsky)
• Disciplinary Regulation of Prosecutors as a Remedy for Abuses of Prosecutorial Discretion: A Descriptive and Normative Analysis, 14 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 143 (2016) (with Samuel Levine)
• Should There Be a Specialized Ethics Code for Death-Penalty Defense Lawyers?, 29 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 527 (2016)
• Candor in Criminal Advocacy, 44 Hofstra L. Rev. 1105 (2016)
• Access to Criminal Justice: Where Are the Prosecutors?, 3 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 515 (2016)
• The Lawyer as Lover: Are Courts Romanticizing the Lawyer-Client Relationship?, 32 Touro L. Rev. 139 (2016)
• Legal Discourse and Racial Justice: The Urge to Cry “Bias!”, 28 Georgetown J. Legal Ethics 177 (2015)
• Prosecutors’ Disclosure Obligations in the U.S., 42 Hitotsubashi J. L. & Politics 51 (2014) (with Peter Joy)
• Judicial Regulation of US Civil Litigators, 16 Legal Ethics 306 (2013)
• Gideon’s Amici: Why Do Prosecutors So Rarely Defend the Rights of the Accused?, 122 Yale L.J. 2336 (2013)
• The Right to Plea Bargain With Competent Counsel After Cooper and Frye: Is the Supreme Court Making the Ordinary Criminal Process “Too Long, Too Expensive, and Unpredictable . . . in Pursuit of Perfect Justice”?, 51 Duquesne L. Rev. 735 (2013)
• Lawyers’ Professional Independence: Overrated or Undervalued?, 46 Akron L. Rev. 599 (2013)
• The Attorney-Client Privilege – Selective Compulsion, Selective Waiver and Selective Disclosure: Is Bank Regulation Exceptional?, 2013 Journal of the Professional Lawyer 85 (2013)
• Unregulated Corporate Internal Investigations: Achieving Fairness for Corporate Constituents, 54 B.C. L. Rev. 73 (2013) (with Ellen S. Podgor)
• Federal Criminal Discovery Reform: A Legislative Approach, 64 Mercer L. Rev. 639 (2013)
• Rehabilitating Lawyers: Perceptions of Deviance and its Cures in the Lawyer Reinstatement Process, 40 Fordham Urb. L.J. 139 (2012) (with Jane Moriarty)
• The Flood of U.S. Lawyers: Natural Fluctuation or Professional Climate Change?, 19 Int’ J. Legal Prof. 193 (2012)
• Prosecutors and Professional Regulation, 25 Georgetown J. Legal Ethics 873 (2012)
• The Community Prosecutor: Questions of Professional Discretion, 47 Wake Forest L. Rev. 285 (2012) (with Alafair S. Burke)
• Developing Standards of Conduct for Prosecutors and Criminal Defense Lawyers, 62 Hastings L.J. 1093 (2011)
• Prosecutors’ Ethical Duty of Disclosure In Memory of Fred Zacharias, 48 San Diego L. Rev. 57 (2011)
• Rationalizing Judicial Regulation of Lawyers, 70 Ohio St. L.J. 73 (2009) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• The Duty to Avoid Wrongful Convictions: A Thought Experiment in the Regulation of Prosecutors, 89 Boston University L. Rev. 1 (2009) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• The Market for Bad Legal Scholarship: William H. Simon’s Experiment in Professional Regulation, 60 Stanford L. Rev. 1605 (2008)
• “The U.S. Attorneys Scandal” and the Allocation of Prosecutorial Power, 69 Ohio St. L.J. 187 (2008) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Permissive Rules of Professional Conduct, 91 Minn. L. Rev. 265 (2006) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Reconceptualizing Advocacy Ethics, 74 George Washington L. Rev. 1 (2005) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Prosecutorial Neutrality, 2004 Wisconsin L. Rev. 837 (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Federal Court Authority to Regulate Lawyers: A Practice in Search of a Theory, 56 Vand. L. Rev. 1303 (2003) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Prosecutorial Ethics as Usual, 2003 Illinois L. Rev. 1573
• Regulating Federal Prosecutors’ Ethics, 55 Vand. L. Rev. 381 (2002) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• The Disciplinary Restrictions on Multidisciplinary Practice: Their Derivation, Their Development, and Some Implications for the Core Values Debate, 84 Minn. L. Rev. 1115 (2000)
• The Uniqueness of Federal Prosecutors, 88 Georgetown L.J. 207 (2000) (with Fred C. Zacharias)
• Why Should Prosecutors “Seek Justice”?, 26 Fordham Urb. L.J. 609 (1999)
• The Criminal Regulation of Lawyers, 67 Fordham L. Rev. 327 (1998)
• The Role of Personal Values in Professional Decisionmaking, 11 Geo. J. of Legal Ethics 19 (1997)
• Whose Rules of Professional Conduct Should Govern Lawyers in Federal Court and How Should the Rules Be Created?, 64 George Washington L. Rev. 460 (1996)
• Lethal Fiction: The Meaning of “Counsel” in the Sixth Amendment, 78 Iowa L. Rev. 433 (1993)
• “Power, Not Reason”: Justice Marshall's Valedictory and the Fourth Amendment in the Supreme Court's 1990-91 Term, 70 N.C.L. Rev. 373 (1992)
• Zealous Representation Bound: The Intersection of the Ethical Codes and the Criminal Law, 69 N.C.L. Rev. 687 (1991)
• “Through a Glass, Darkly”: How the Court Views Motions to Disqualify Criminal Defense Lawyers, 89 Colum. L. Rev. 1201 (1989)

View All Publications

Selected Professional Activities

American Bar Association:
   Commission on the American Jury Project: member, 2006-2008
   Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice: reporter, 2000-2002
   Coordinating Group on Bioethics and the Law: member, 1997-2003
   Criminal Justice Section: Chair, 2010-2011
   Section of Litigation: Council member, 2004-2007
   Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility: member, 2008-2011
   Task Force on the Attorney-Client Privilege: reporter, 2004-2010
   Task Force on Law Schools and the Profession: consultant, 1991-1992

Association of the Bar of the City of New York: Executive Committee: 2010 to 2014

International Association of Legal Ethics: Director, 2010-13

National Conference of Bar Examiners: Member of MPRE Drafting Committee, 2001 to present

New York County Lawyers’ Association: Director, 2004-2007, 2008-2012

New York State Bar Association:
   House of Delegates member, 2003-2007, 2009 to 2015
   Committee on Professional Ethics: Chair, 1998-2001; member, 1991 to present

• Criminal Law
• Professional Responsibility: Ethics in Criminal Advocacy
• Public Interest Lawyer Advanced Seminar