Justice Department orders more ethics training for lawyers; Politico, 8/8/16

Josh Gerstein, Politico; Justice Department orders more ethics training for lawyers:

"The Justice Department has ordered a large swath of its attorneys to undergo additional ethics training in response to a judge's findings that he was misled by federal government lawyers handling a high-profile lawsuit over President Barack Obama's immigration policies.

The new training — a one-hour, one-time program on top of existing requirements — was ordered last month for the roughly 1,000 attorneys in Justice's Civil Division and disclosed in a court filing made public Monday afternoon."

Federal Judge in Texas Demands Justice Dept. Lawyers Take Ethics Class; New York Times, 5/19/16

Michael D. Shear, New York Times; Federal Judge in Texas Demands Justice Dept. Lawyers Take Ethics Class:

"A federal judge in Texas on Thursday excoriated the Justice Department, demanding ethics classes for the department’s lawyers and ordering other sanctions for those who argued the case involving President Obama’s immigration executive actions...

In a blistering order, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville accused the Justice Department lawyers of lying to him during arguments in the case, and he barred them from appearing in his courtroom.

He also demanded that Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch provide a “comprehensive plan” within 60 days describing how she will prevent unethical conduct in the future, as well as making sure the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility effectively prevents misconduct among its lawyers.

He also said that any Justice Department lawyer who wants to appear in a state or federal court in any of the 26 states who filed suit to block Mr. Obama’s executive actions should be required to take an annual three-hour ethics course for the next five years.

“Clearly, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about or adherence to the duties of professional responsibility in the halls of the Justice Department,” Judge Hanen wrote in the 28-page order."