Professor Myles Lynk Headlines First Dean’s Speaker Series of Semester with ‘Ethical Tensions in Lawyering’


(left-right) Professor Simard, Professor Lynk, Dean Greene, Associate Dean Sant’Ambrogio

By Jake Jenkins

March 21, 2023

Following her successful installments of the Dean’s Speaker Series last semester, Dean Linda Sheryl Greene continued this week with her promise to share her “collegial family” with Michigan State University College of Law.

Dean Greene welcomed Professor Myles Lynk this past Monday, who spoke on “The Divided Self: Ethical Tensions in Lawyering.”

“I’m thrilled to host this third episode of the second annual MSU Law Dean’s Speaker Series,” Dean Greene said. “Professor Lynk comes to us with tons of legal experience, and we are delighted to have him with us.”

The informative Q&A between Dean Greene and Professor Lynk covered a range of topics and Lynk discussed his life experiences within the legal profession as well give a presentation in front of the MSU Law community.

He worked on the front lines of attorney professional misconduct, as a prosecutor in the District of Columbia’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Lynk also was chair of a special committee on bioethics and the law, where he addressed bioethics, minorities and the law, rights, and remedies while also working with the Navajo Nation Bar Association on its rules of professional conduct.

Lynk believes ethics is a topic attorneys should continue to receive education on as it influences all aspects of the legal profession.

“It affects all lawyers, regardless of what their practice is,” he said. “There are ethical dimensions to lawyering and we are all subject to ethical rules. Whatever we do as lawyers comes within the framework of ethics rules.”

MSU Law’s Frank J. Kelley Institute of Ethics & the Legal Profession, which co-sponsored the event, addresses issues of ethics and the legal profession through teaching, research, and outreach programs. And Institute director and MSU Law Professor, Justin Simard, was pleased Lynk was able to speak on the topic.

“I was excited to hear he was able to come,” Simard said. “Dean Greene and Dean Sant’Ambrogio told me they were inviting him, and to join forces on this event and I said yes.”

Along with coming to MSU Law and speaking with the community, Lynx will be joining as a visiting Professor next Fall and will be teaching, “Professional Responsibility and Advanced Legal Ethics.”

“His scholarly and practical expertise in legal ethics is wonderful to have here at the law college,” Simard said. “It will be great to have him here for our students.”

Dean Greene stated that as a long-time admirer of Lynk’s work, she plans to audit one of his courses for her own professional development.

Please join us for our final installment of the 2nd annual Dean’s Speaker Series on April 3.