I do a lot of work related to patent law, and have authored amicus briefs on patent issues (some pure, some quasi-ethical), and it is fairly common for patent professors and organizations to file amicus briefs with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to do so.
I'm not aware of a similar practice in the ethics area; I know people do experting, but I don't see professors filing briefs on key cases as friends of the court.
Am I just unaware of the practice? Any explanation(s) for the differences between patent cases and disqualification/malpractice?
Just pondered this, and was curious...