Conflicts of Commitment: Legal Ethics in the Impeachment Context

Abstract

In this article, Professor Rhode explores the issues of professional responsibility that emerged in connection with impeachment proceedings against President William Jefferson Clinton. Those proceedings offer an illuminating case study of crucial questions concerning lawyers' obligations to clients, to the system of justice, and to society generally. Analysis begins by reviewing conflicts of interest for the Independent Counsel and for attorneys representing Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. A second set of issues involves the conflicts of roles and responsibilities confronting the Presidents' lawyers: conflicts between their clients' political and legal needs and conflicts between their obligations to their clients' defense and the justice system. Discussion then turns to ethical conflicts in the exercise of prosecutorial power, such as the scope and confidentiality of the Independent Counsel's investigation, the treatment of witnesses, the referral of charges to Congress, and the management of the Senate trial. To address these concerns, the article proposes changes in bar ethical rules, legal doctrine, legislative frameworks, adversarial ideologies, and professional education.