Legal Ethics Items (October 4, 2010)

• Benjamin Heineman, Jr., offers this powerful criticism of the European Court of Justice's recent decision in Akzo Nobel, denying the attorney client privilege to in-house counsel.
• Managing Partner Magazine: a partner from a private practice firm isn't always a good choice for an in-house counsel role.
• The Morning Call: Former US Attorney Thomas Marino's resignation served to close an ongoing OPR investigation arising from a reference Marino gave to a man seeking a casino license.
• NewsOK: a pharmacist accused of murder has asked that the prosecutor be recused because of the prosecutor's release of security camera video of the shooting.  The pharmacist claims that the release of video was for the purpose of inflaming the public against him.  The prosecutor defends the release.
• Legal Profession Blog has news that a Florida ethics opinion says that judges can participate in American Inn of Court skits, even when the skit is entered into a "best skit" competition with money prizes that go to charity.  That news gives me a nice opportunity to mention that my Inn, the Hon. William A. Ingram Inn (San Jose) won First Place for program presentations in 2010, based on our presentation, "Oral Advocacy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."
• In Nepal, the bench and bar are trying to narrow their differences.