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. Legal ethics

A modest proposal (about NYC Bar Op. 2019-5)

I have made a living (well not actually a living since no one compensates me in any form of currency, whether crypto or otherwise, for my writings here) writing about problematic ethics opinions. July 11, 2019 brings what might be the most practically useless ethics opinion ever released. If it were only just practically useless, […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Tennessee transparency update

Recently I wrote a bit about the latest Formal Ethics Opinion adopted in Tennessee including a bit of additional content focused on the enactment of this opinion as the maiden voyage of the new process involving the seeking of public comment on the FEO in draft form. If you missed those, you might want to […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

New good, but not perfect, guidance from the ABA

The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility of the ABA has been on something of a bit of a “spree” when it comes to the issuance of ethics opinions. (At least, it feels like it.) In the last 18 months, it has issued 10 opinions. The most recent one is ABA Formal Op. 487 […]

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. Legal ethics

Friday follow up: undo the good and just leave the bad.

So, not quite six weeks ago, I wrote about a development from Tennessee that was something of a mixed bag. Our Board of Professional Responsibility put out a proposed Formal Ethics Opinion for public comment that, in my opinion, was not a good opinion fraught with quite a number of significant flaws. (If you missed […]

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. Legal ethics

You take the good, you take the bad…

You take them both and there you have … the news about Tenn. Formal Ethics Opinion 2019-F-167 (draft). First, the good. I cannot give sincere and strong enough kudos to the Tennessee BPR for implementing a new policy to release draft Formal Ethics Opinions to the public for comment before deciding to actually adopt and […]

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. Legal ethics

Crowdfunding for attorney fees? Yes, but no.

So, since about early December of last year I’ve been trying to find a way to write about a really good, quite practical (albeit practical about a very niche situation) D.C. ethics from November 2018. The D.C. Opinion, Ethics Opinion 375, addresses the idea of using crowdfunding platforms as an ethical way for a client […]

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. Legal ethics

Friday follow up: Yesterday’s post

Well, this may be the most rapid Friday follow up in this blog’s history. A wise and well-connected reader has been in touch to let me know why my analysis yesterday of NYSBA Op. 1160 was all wet. He was, of course, right as I somehow managed to blow past a very important piece of […]

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. Legal ethics

In a New York (out-of) state of mind…

It has been a minute or two since I’ve stumbled upon an ethics opinion that provides a quick and easy example of how to take an issue, makes it overly complex and in so doing highlight several ongoing problem areas in the regulation of the profession, but ultimately still get to the correct result as […]

Categories
Legal ethics

New Jersey takes a step in the right direction on advertising

With a strong tip of the metaphorical hat I never wear to Kim Ringler (a former President of APRL) who alerted many ethics lawyers to the news, I write today about a new ethics opinion from the New Jersey Committee on Attorney Advertising. In Opinion 45, issued less than a week ago, New Jersey has […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

The intersection of the ethics rules and the GDPR “right to be forgotten”

Although today is Halloween in my part of the world, I am not offering any spooky content.  I thought about trying to replace all mentions of Maryland in this post with Scaryland, but that just seemed like I was trying too hard. In fact, I’m a bit torn about even writing about this particular topic […]