Secret Settlements and Practice Restrictions Aid Lawyer Cartels and Cause Other Harms

Authors

Susan P. KoniakFollow
David Dana

Author granted license

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2003

ISSN

0276-9948

Publisher

University of Illinois College of Law

Language

en-US

Abstract

In this article, the authors argue that the use of secrecy agreements and practice restrictions in settlement contracts should be prohibited not only by the ethics rules, but also by criminal and civil law. The authors begin by discrediting four arguments that are traditionally employed to support the use of secrecy agreements and practice restrictions. They then argue that the use of secrecy agreements and practice restrictions generate substantial costs, but do not secure any legitimate benefits that could not be attained by other, less costly means. The authors also explain how the problems caused by secrecy agreements and practice restrictions are particularly severe in the class action context.

Comments

In Symposium on Ethics 2000 and Beyond: Reform or Professional Responsibility as Usual? 2003.

Recommended Citation

Susan P. Koniak & David Dana, Secret Settlements and Practice Restrictions Aid Lawyer Cartels and Cause Other Harms , in 2003 University of Illinois Law Review 1217 (2003).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/2239