Gilda Tuoni Russell is a Partner and Ethics and Conflicts Counsel for the firm and a member of Holland & Knight's Legal Team. She has practiced for more than 30 years, particularly in the areas of professional responsibility and litigation. In recent years, Ms. Russell's practice has concentrated on being counsel to the firm, as well as the defense of lawyers in bar discipline matters and as an expert witness in malpractice and attorney disqualification cases.
Ms. Russell has also been a law professor, teaching and writing for more than 25 years in the areas of legal ethics, trial advocacy, evidence, civil and criminal procedure, constitutional law, sports law and Native American law. She has taught on the full-time or visiting faculties of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, McGeorge School of Law, the University of the Pacific, Northeastern Law School, the University of Colorado Law School, the University of San Diego Law School and California Western School of Law. She also served as an adjunct professor at Boston College Law School for many years and has taught on both the local and national levels in numerous continuing legal education programs for attorneys. She has taught and conducted demonstrations in legal ethics and trial advocacy in the Harvard Law School Intersession Trial Advocacy Workshop for over 25 years.
Ms. Russell has published numerous books, articles, chapters, and seminar materials on legal ethics, evidence and trial advocacy, among other topics.
Books:
Massachusetts Professional Responsibility, 2nd Edition, (Lexis/Nexis, Matthew Bender, March, 2003).
Massachusetts Attorney Conduct Manual (Lexis Law Publishing, 1992), 2 vol.
Massachusetts Jury Instructions--Civil, ed. and co-author (Lexis Law Book Publishing, 1997, Supplements, 1998-2001).
Massachusetts Hearsay Evidence (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 2006).
Articles:
Lateral Movement of Lawyers in Massachusetts – Conflicts, O'Donnell, and the Future Under Amended ABA Model Rule 1.10, 2 The Boston Bar Journal 54 (Spring 2010).
Can American Lawyers Get to Heaven?, The European Lawyer, Issue 36 (March 2004).
Society vs. The Lawyers--The Strange Hierarchy of Protections of the “New” Client Confidentiality, 8 St. John’s Journal of Legal Commentary 439 (1994).
Two Models for Trial Advocacy Skills Training in Law Schools -- A Critique, 25 Loyola Law Review 113 (1991).
Hearsay ‑‑ Its Application in Massachusetts and Federal Courts, 73 Massachusetts Law Review 100 (1988).
Eminent Domain in Massachusetts ‑‑ An Update of Recent Cases, 68 Massachusetts Law Review 128 (1983).
Teaching Ethical Considerations in the Clinical Setting: Professional, Personal, and Systemic, 52 University of Colorado Law Review 410 (1981).
Deinstitutionalization and Community Resistance Through Zoning, 66 Massachusetts Law Review 125 (1981).
Recovering Land Damages in Eminent Domain Cases in Massachusetts ‑‑ A Summary, (co‑author), 63 Massachusetts Law Review 119 (1978).
NEPA and the Freedom of Information Act: A Prospect for Disclosure, 4 Environmental Affairs 179 (1975).
Chapters:
Sources of Ethical Authority in Massachusetts in Ethical Lawyering (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1992, revised 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2007).
Hearsay in Massachusetts Evidence: A Courtroom Reference (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1988, revised 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008).
Ethical Considerations in Massachusetts Liability Insurance Manual (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 2000, revised 2004, 2008 revision in progress).
Case Comments:
Landlord and Tenant ‑‑ Recent Developments (Recovery for Emotional Distress, Free Speech, Condominium Conversion), 68 Massachusetts Law Review 37 (1983).
Jury Verdict ‑‑ Challenge Based on Alleged Bias or Mental Incompetence of Juror: United States v. Vargas, 65 Massachusetts Law Review 138 (1980).
Walker v. Butterworth and Commonwealth v. Moore, (Constitutional Law: Issues of Defendant's Personal Exercise of Peremptory Challenge When Sanity at Issue and Use of Prisoner's Dock), 65 Massachusetts Law Review 86 (1980).
Commentary:
Memphis’ Other King, The National Civil Rights Museum, Albuquerque Journal, January 9, 1994, Travel, Section C (Article and Photographs).
Surrogacy ‑‑ Race, Money and Gender ‑‑ A Strained California Fantasy? Vol. XIII, No. 1 Women's Bar Association Newsletter 4 (Massachusetts Women's Bar Association, February ‑ March, 1991).
Thelma and Louise" -- A Feminist Statement? (Vol. XIV, No. 1, Women's Bar Association Newsletter 2 (Massachusetts Women's Bar Association, January, 1992).
Other Publications:
Practical and Ethical Considerations in Fundamentals of Civil Litigation Preparation (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1987 update, originally published in 1985).
Important Timetables in Practice and Procedure Before the Single Justice of the Massachusetts Appellate Courts (MBA, 1985).
Rule 37, Failure to Make Discovery: Sanctions in How to Win Motions in Civil Cases (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1983), and in Trial Skills (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, 1984).
Timetable of Appeals to Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court Under Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure, in Appellate Practice: A View From the Bench (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education--New England Law Institute, Inc., 1980).