Don't Get Disbarred: Ethics & Professional Responsibility For Prosecutors

Don’t Get Disbarred is a must-read for every prosecutor in America. It teaches lawyers and law students how to stay out of trouble with state bar disciplinary authorities. As Warren Buffett says: “It takes twenty years to build your reputation, but only five minutes to lose it.”

In this informative and often amusing book, veteran prosecutor and award-winning author Morley Swingle discusses hundreds of cases from all 50 states providing specific examples of prosecutors behaving badly and receiving everything from censure, reprimand, or suspension, to total disbarment. The misconduct arises from ethical lapses, sometimes occurring in a split second, and often resulting in catastrophic consequences for defendants.

The misbehavior of these scoundrels, scalawags and screwups includes everything from intentionally putting on perjured testimony to practical jokes gone bad.

Armed with 30 years of experience litigating criminal cases, Swingle, a former state and federal prosecutor, personally dealt with countless ethical choices faced by prosecutors toiling in the trenches of actual day-to-day litigation and case management. He knows the material as well as anyone in America.

Reading this book will help prosecutors save their reputations. It will aid criminal defense lawyers and judges in recognizing prosecutorial misconduct when they see it. It will help prevent the tragedy of wrongful convictions.

“Don’t Get Disbarred: Ethics & Professional Responsibility For Prosecutors is the best book ever written for prosecutors who want to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct and stay out of trouble themselves. Every prosecutor, no matter what level of experience or inexperience, should read it.” Stephen Sokoloff, Missouri Office of Prosecution Services (Retired)