Back almost twenty years ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court warned New Jersey lawyers that “any act of violence committed by an attorney will not be tolerated” and to expect that the likely consequence for engaging in violent behavior would be “[n]othing less than a suspension.” They issued that warning in a case, In re Viggiano, […]
It has been a while since I’ve written about a good ethics opinion. There is a Maine opinion from a few months ago that fits the bill (and interestingly was actually posed by bar counsel in Maine apparently) but before I spend a little bit of time discussing it, I want to give context behind […]
It is often jokingly said that “you learn something new every day.” I kind of like to think that I learn more than one new thing every day, but results fluctuate. Last week, in connection with reading about the launch of a new legal marketing network that combines Martindale-Hubbell (which is also behind www.lawyers.com) and […]
One of the more archaic aspects of lawyer regulation is the heavy-handed approach to UPL. And, I’m not referring to UPL in the sense of something done that involves the practice of law by a person who isn’t a lawyer anywhere. I’m referring to regulatory efforts involving UPL that are brandished against someone who is […]
I want to quickly discuss an ethics opinion out of New York state. No, not that one. I’m not going to delve into the brouhaha over the one from March 2016 that only got publicity in August 2016 that involves saying it is ethical for a firm to charge clients for work performed by unpaid […]
If you spend any time on social media these days, you may have noticed how irritable folks are. There are lots of reasons for it, of course. We live in stressful times. Practicing law has always been a high-stress endeavor as far as professions go; thus, cries for more civility in the practice of law […]
So, I’ve been battling a bit of a stomach bug such that over the last 45 hours or so I have ingested a cup of yogurt, a sleeve of Ritz crackers, and a small bowl of chicken noodle soup. Accordingly, this will be a short(ish) post – apologies in advance. Back in May of this […]
Back in August 2012, the ABA House of Delegates approved revisions to the ABA Model Rules proposed by the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission. Very few of the proposed revisions included in the ABA Ethics 20/20 package are earth-shaking revisions, as many of them only involve change to language in the Comment accompanying certain rules. The […]
“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.” Those words, or words of similar effect, make up a pretty widely recognized adage. Depending on the details of any situation, the adage can serve as a proxy for pretty decent advice for a lawyer to give a client, but often less so if the lawyer’s […]
Here I am, because it is hard not to write something about the news last week that Brendan Dassey’s conviction was overturned. Dassey, for those of who you did not watch Netflix documentary Making a Murderer and are willing to take me at my word as to what you would have concluded if you did watch […]