Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Richard Painter, Guest-Blogging:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_15-2009_03_21.shtml#1237669911
I'm delighted to report that [1]Prof. Richard Painter, of the
University of Minnesota law school, will be guest-blogging this coming
week. Prof. Painter is the author of dozens of law review articles on
lawyers' ethics, corporate governance and corporate ethics, and
securities law, and coauthor of the casebooks Securities Litigation
and Enforcement (2d ed. 2007) and Professional and Personal
Responsibilities of the Lawyer (2d ed. 2001). He has been active in
law reform efforts, including the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act provision
requiring lawyers to report known securities law violations up the
ladder to senior management and, if necessary, to client boards of
directors.
He's also the author of the new Oxford University Press book
[2]Getting the Government America Deserves: How Ethics Reform Can Make
a Difference. Here's a quick summary:
Federal ethics law is relatively unknown in legal academia and
elsewhere outside of Washington, D.C., but it is binding on over
one million federal employees. Lobbyists, federal contractors,
lawyers and others who interact with the federal government are
also deeply interested in federal ethics law and represent a
surprisingly large market for a little-studied area of the law. The
book argues that in order to be effective, federal ethics law must
address sources of systematic corruption rather than simply address
motives that individual government employees might have to betray
the public trust (such as personal financial holdings or family
relationships). The book articulates a general approach to
combating systemic corruption as well as some specific proposals
for doing so.
The book argues that the existing ethics regime is in need of
substantial reform since federal ethics laws fail to curtail
conduct that undermines the integrity of government, such as
political activity by federal employees and their interaction with
lobbyists and interest groups. The book also contends that in some
other areas, such as personal financial conflicts of interest,
there is too much complexity in regulatory and reporting
requirements, and rules need to be simplified. Painter's solution
includes strengthening the enforcement of ethics rules, reforming
the lobbying industry, and changing a system of campaign finance
that impedes meaningful government ethics reform.
I'm much looking forward to Prof. Painter's posts.
References
1. http://www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/painterr.html
2.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Government-America-Deserves-Difference/dp/0195378717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237669736&sr=8-1
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