PROFESSOR EMERITA TERRY PROVIDES COMMENTS TO ABA ON PROPOSED AML RULE
February 2022 — Professor Laurel S. Terry, who is the H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law and Professor of Law Emerita, recently provided oral and written comments to the American Bar Association regarding a proposed new ethics rule. Her comments addressed a Dec. 15, 2021 ABA Discussion Draft that proposed adding anti-money laundering [AML] due diligence language to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
Professor Terry’s oral comments were presented during a Roundtable session that was sponsored by the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility and held during the ABA’s 2022 Midyear Meeting. (A recording of the Roundtable is available here.) Professor Terry was among those who submitted written comments after the February 11, 2022 Roundtable session; her written comments are available here.
Professor Terry’s written and oral comments endorsed the concept of adding explicit and clear AML due diligence/duty of inquiry language to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Her comments explained why, if the ABA does not act on this issue, Congress or FINCEN might step in and why the resulting action might impose more than AML due diligence obligations and raise rule of law concerns. Her written comments also included proposed redline edits to the ABA’s Dec. 2021 Discussion Draft.
Professor Terry’s written and oral remarks to the ABA drew upon expertise she developed as a result of her scholarship and service. Links to her AML scholarship and her AML-related service, including her service on the ABA Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation and the Legal Profession, were previously documented here.
Professor Emerita Laurel S. Terry, who held the inaugural H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Chair in Law and was Dickinson Law’s inaugural Associate Dean for Research and New Faculty Development, is a three-time Fulbright recipient who writes and speaks about the impact of globalization on the legal profession, especially with respect to regulatory issues. Her scholarship has identified emerging issues for the legal profession and urged stakeholder engagement, new initiatives, and regulatory reform. In addition to speaking at academic and professional conferences, she has been invited to speak about her scholarship to organizations that include the Conference of Chief Justices, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the National Organization of Bar Counsel, the National Conference of Bar Presidents, the CCBE, which represents EU’s legal profession and legal regulators, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the International Institute of Law Association Chief Executives, the International Bar Association, and the International Conference of Legal Regulators.