Can one be a good lawyer or judge in the treatment court context? This publication seeks to answer that question through a commentary on selected provisions of three American Bar Association (ABA) ethical codes – the Model Code of Judicial Conduct, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice. This study concludes that practitioners in drug court need heightened ethical sensitivity in both the design of particular treatment court programs and in daily practice, but the proper exercise of the roles of judge or lawyer in drug court need not conflict with the professionals’ ethical obligations.

Author:

Hon. Karen Freeman-Wilson (Ret.)

Robert Tuttle

Susan P. Weinstein

Date: 2001