The research of Nicole Martorano Van Cleve, assistant professor of criminal justice at Temple, has been published in Lawyers in Practice: Ethical Decision Making in Context (University of Chicago Press), the first book to present empirical research on ethical decision making in various types of law practices. Van Cleve’s chapter, “Reinterpreting the Zealous Advocate: Multiple Intermediary Roles of the Criminal Defense Attorney” focuses on how defense attorneys are forced to confront social issues.

In recent years, defense attorneys have had to expand their advocacy strategies beyond basic trial work and plea bargains, now adding treatment processes like drug and mental health interventions as a result of clients suffering from mental illness or addiction. Rather than seek a lesser sentence or acquittal, many of these defendants seek treatment, relying on their defense attorneys to navigate treatment resources on their behalf or even to mentor them on a more personal level. Given these expanding needs, Van Cleve explores how ethical boundaries can be pushed when the defendant’s judgment is impaired and the attorney must persuade the defendant as to what constitutes his or her “best interest.”

Along with its appearance in Lawyers in Practice: Ethical Decision Making in Context, Van Cleve’s research was the winner of the 2010 Outstanding Paper presented by the Sociology of Law Section of the American Sociological Association.

In addition to her role in the Department of Criminal Justice, Van Cleve has courtesy appointments in the Department of Sociology and Temple’s Beasley School of Law.