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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Law - "The Changing Role of Criminal Defense Lawyers"

That is the heading of this Blog of LegalTimes entry today by Tony Mauro that begins:

Is the role of the criminal defense lawyer changing in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that is imposing new obligations on lawyers to advise clients about the consequences of criminal convictions?

The American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section this week established a task force aimed at answering that question and helping criminal defense lawyers understand and meet new responsibilities to clients stemming from the Supreme Court's March decision in Padilla v. Kentucky.

That ruling found that a defense lawyer's failure to advise a client that a guilty plea would have deportation consequences for the client amounted to "constitutionally deficient" representation.

Mauro reports that the ruling "is being used in cases where guilty pleas have had consequences in other areas including employment, child custody and housing," for starters.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 22, 2010 01:29 PM
Posted to General Law Related