Conflicts of commitment: Legal ethics in the impeachment context

In this article, Professor Rhode explores the issues of professional respon sibility that emerged in connection with impeachment proceedings against Pr esident 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 rev iewing conflicts of interest for the Independent Counsel and for attorneys representing Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. A second set of issues involv es the conflicts of roles and responsibilities confronting the Presidents' lawyers: conflicts between their clients' political and legal needs and con flicts between their obligations to their clients' defense and the justice system. Discussion then turns to ethical conflicts in the exercise of prose cutorial power, such as the scope and confidentiality of the Independent Co unsel's investigation, the treatment of witnesses, the referral of charges to Congress, and the management of the Senate trial. To address these conce rns, the article proposes changes in bar ethical rules, legal doctrine, leg islative frameworks, adversarial ideologies, and professional education.