Following up on a 1989 paper on the subject, this essay revisits the q
uestion of ethical expertise in the court room. Informed by recent dev
elopments in the use of ethics experts, the authors argue 1) that the
adversarial nature of court proceedings challenges the integrity of th
e ethicist's pedagogical role; 2) that the use of ethics experts as no
rmative authorities remains dubious; 3) that clarification of the Stat
e's interest in ''protecting the ethical integrity of the medical prof
ession'' is urgently required; and 4) that the expertise of the ethici
st may be more appropriately used in advising the legislature than in
influencing the court.