Voice of Justice: Reclaiming the First Amendment Rights of Lawyers

By: Margaret Tarkington

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Synopsis: The First Amendment rights of lawyers are ethereal. Most lawyers fail to realize that courts may deny them access to the First Amendment's protective shield in many regulatory and disciplinary contexts. Overall, attorneys cannot and should not assume that they can obtain First Amendment protection - especially when acting as an attorney in their role as an 'officer of the court'. Yet, it is precisely in the lawyering context - where attorneys engage in speech, association, and petitioning for the very purpose of securing client rights, invoking law, enabling the judicial power, and obtaining justice - that the need for First Amendment protection is the most acute. If regulators silence that voice, they silence justice. From overarching theory to specific real-world contexts, this illuminating book provides a critical resource for lawyers, judges, and scholars to understand the relationship between the First Amendment rights of lawyers and the integrity of the justice system.