The spectacularly despicable behavior of Cully Stimson, a lawyer in the Defense Department, who has publicly tried to get corporations to muscle law firms not to represent Guantanamo inmates by yanking their business, has been widely deplored in remarkably harsh terms. I’m not aware that he’s facing disbarment yet, but I looked in the DC rules of professional conduct and found what look like pretty ample grounds to yank his shingle, and even a duty for every other lawyer to drop a dime on him. Oddly, it does not seem generally prohibited for lawyers to bring the legal profession into disrepute, but if he’s not nailed for the following, one has to wonder about the whole idea of self-regulated professions, and if Gates doesn’t in any case put him on the street pronto, one has to wonder about the SecDef. Here are the relevant rules:
1.2 b A lawyer’s representation of a client, including representation by appointment, does
not constitute an endorsement of the client’s political, economic, social, or moral views or
activities.
5.4 (c) A lawyer shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays the lawyer to
render legal services for another to direct or regulate the lawyer’s professional judgment in
rendering such legal services.
6.1 A lawyer should participate in serving those persons [note: not "nice persons" or "upstanding US citizen type persons" or "persons the President is sure are OK and suitable to have over for dinner": persons], or groups of persons, who are
unable to pay all or a portion of reasonable attorney’s fees or who are otherwise unable to obtain
counsel. A lawyer may discharge this responsibility by providing professional services at no fee,
or at a substantially reduced fee, to persons and groups who are unable to afford or obtain
counsel, or by active participation in the work of organizations that provide legal services to
them. When personal representation is not feasible, a lawyer may discharge this responsibility
by providing financial support for organizations that provide legal representation to those unable
to obtain counsel.
6.2 Accepting Appointments
A lawyer shall not seek to avoid appointment by a tribunal to represent a person except
for good cause, such as:
(a) Representing the client is likely to result in violation of the Rules of Professional
Conduct or other law;
(b) Representing the client is likely to result in a substantial and unreasonable burden on
the lawyer; or
(c) The client or the cause is so repugnant to the lawyer as to be likely to impair the
client-lawyer relationship or the lawyer’s ability to represent the client.
COMMENT
[1] A lawyer ordinarily is not obliged to accept a client whose character or cause the
lawyer regards as repugnant. The lawyer’s freedom to select clients is, however, qualified. All
lawyers have a responsibility to assist in providing pro bono public service. See Rule 6.1. An
individual lawyer fulfills this responsibility by accepting a fair share of unpopular matters or
indigent or unpopular clients. A lawyer may also be subject to appointment by a court to serve
unpopular clients or persons unable to afford legal services.
7.1 Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services
(a) A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the
lawyer’s services. A communication is false or misleading if it:
(1) Contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary
to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading; or
(2) Contains an assertion about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services that cannot be
substantiated.
8.3 Reporting Professional Misconduct
(a) A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of
Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty,
trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional
authority.
8.4 Misconduct
It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to:
(a) Violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or
induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another
(d) Engage in conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice