WASHINGTON - Nov. 16, 2020 - Almost two dozen law professors and one law school dean at the University of Miami School of Law have been challenged to back up their published claims that a colleague, law professor Daniel Ravicher, violated his "professional obligation" as a lawyer, and engaged in "unethical behavior," for posting Tweets which favored President Trump, including those about possible fraud in the presidential election.

But, argues public interest law professor John Banzhaf, even if Ravicher made such controversial statements, it does not seem to violate any "professional obligation" he might have, or constitute "unethical behavior" for attorneys.

If those attorney/professors believe that a lawyer colleague has engaged in unethical behavior, they have a duty to file a proper complaint with bar authorities, backed up by whatever evidence and legal arguments they might be able to present, so that it can be properly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action taken, if Ravicher's conduct did actually constitute unethical behavior or violated any professional obligation he might have had.

Banzhaf points out that filing bar complains about unethical behavior by lawyers is what he himself has done in several instances, including a recent one where his complaints helped to prevent a continuing miscarriage of justice and unconstitutional conduct.

Instead of filing such a complaint, the law professors at the University of Miami School of Law instead simply wrote a letter to the school newspaper.

But, argued Banzhaf, in a posting on a major legal blog, and in a letter to the editor, simply writing a polemic in a limited circulation student newspaper, with no attempt to cite any relevant authorities for the propositions they assert, is hardly an effective or sufficient response if these professors truly believe that a colleague has engaged in "unethical behavior," and violated his "professional obligation" as a lawyer.

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf

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