Today I’m going to splice together two short discussions about topics that I haven’t mentioned in a while. (And, for any fans of the podcast U Talking U2 to Me that are out there, you do have to read the title of this post to sound like the first words of this remake right here.) […]
This week the New York City Bar has put out a very important, and I think very helpful, ethics opinion to address a real, practical concern for lawyers: what, if anything, can be done to protect confidential client information when traveling and crossing the border into the U.S.? NY City Bar Formal Op. 2017-5 lays […]
I’ve written here pretty frequently about issues of lawyer advertising. I am too lazy today to try and go find links to other posts of mine in which I have stated that the overwhelming majority of disciplinary complaints filed over lawyer advertisements are filed by other lawyers. Not always competitors, sometimes lawyers on the other […]
It is almost three months old now, but I wanted to right a word or two about a really well-constructed ethics opinion issued in Colorado, not just because it is an opinion that deserves to be read, but also because it raises a not-quite-academic question about the phenomenon of captive law firms. The opinion put […]
Earlier this week I criticized what I consider to be a pretty bad ethics opinion that was issued by Rhode Island. To balance things out a bit, I want to write about an ethics opinion out of Wisconsin that gives the correct answer to its query – Wisconsin Formal Ethics Opinion EF-17-02. That opinion correctly […]
I like to think I am “warier” than the average attorney. But a recent attorney-client privilege opinion out of New York was a good reminder that being “wary” can be much like being “woke.” Even if you think you are, you probably aren’t as much as you think you are, and you can always be […]
So (finally) I’ve made myself read a bit more into the DC situation — that for many people is now ancient history but was news to me — about what seems like something that definitely got some play in the news but ought to be a more nationally discussed scandal. The weird penchant that DC […]
We appear to be living now in an era in which whistle blowers are going to be in the news (and perhaps be the news) more than ever. Many who know me, know that I hold a pretty controversial opinion — Arrested Development is potentially the greatest television show in history. For many years when I […]
I had every intention of posting twice this week, but events, including being under the weather with general ick much of the week, undermined my intent. So, this mediocre post will briefly hit two items. And, with any luck, tie the two together in a way that makes this seem, in hindsight, the correct way […]
So, this week the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Op. 476 addressing the need to protect client confidentiality when a lawyer seeks to withdraw for reasons involving the client’s failure to pay. As explained below, it is a solid, practical opinion touching on a subject often overlooked by lawyers who […]