Categories
. Legal ethics

More on that Persuader Rule decision out of Texas

I’ve written a good bit here about the problems that the Department of Labor’s proposed new Persuader Rule interpretations present and, most recently, wrote a little bit about a Texas federal judge’s ruling issuing a preliminary injunction about the rule going into effect. My discussion of that ruling back at the end of June 2016 […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Astonished and admonished.

So, on days like today, it is very difficult to have a forum (even one as small as this one) and not talk about truly important problems plaguing society, but no one comes here for my thoughts on those things so I’ll refrain. Staying in my lane, here is another example of a problem lawyers […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Two updates – one persuasive, one not so much

An important development for labor lawyers that I delved into a bit recently here has now been put on hold.  I managed to point out that there would be significant efforts aimed through litigation at stopping the rule from ever going into effect.  Yesterday, a Texas federal district court has stayed the Department of Labor’s new […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Radiolab does the “buried bodies” case

Over the last couple of years, like a lot of other people, I have gotten very into listening to podcasts on my way to and from work and on car trips.  Most of what I spend my time listening to is in the comedic vein (MBMBAM, Judge John Hodgman, You Talking U2 to Me), but […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Three short technology stories for a Tuesday

Throwback Thursday is definitely a thing all over the World Wide Web it seems, but maybe Tech Tuesday ought to be a thing?  Though, I guess, for lawyers focusing on technology has to be an every day affair. Like multitudes of others, I wrote a little bit recently about the Panama Papers and the Mossack […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Three updates for the Thursday before Tax Day

Back in September, I wrote a bit about some different perspectives on the purpose of lawyer regulation and commented on a story that discussed a proposal that Colorado had in the works.  On April 7, 2016, The Colorado Supreme Court took action to adopt a new “Preamble” that serves as the introduction to its rules […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Panama Papers – a worst case scenario for the development of cyber liability law for law firms?

It’s an old adage that bad facts make bad law. In the last few weeks, a good number of pieces were written focusing heightened attention on an issue that many lawyers were already stewing about . . . technological vulnerabilities arising from how lawyers and law firms use (and don’t use) technology.  Most of these […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

The Department of Labor’s Final “Persuader” Rule – Part 2 of 2

So, yesterday, I started writing about the potential ramifications for lawyers of the adoption by the Department of Labor of its final “persuader” rule which will become effective on April 25, 2016, but will only be applicable to agreements entered into on and after July 1, 2016.  You can catch up on part 1 here. […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

“Other law” is always changing – the DOL’s new Final “Persuader” Rule – Part 1 of 2

The scope of confidentiality lawyers owe to their clients has long been a subject that I find fascinating.  Over the last few years, I’ve mulled how its broad scope will continue to play out with current and future generations of both lawyers and clients who routinely, almost even instinctively, share seemingly every detail of their […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

ABA Formal Opinion 473 – mostly good advice all the way around

A few months ago, I wrote a post about a frustrating Tennessee Ethics Opinion that offered guidance on lawyers’ obligations when responding to a subpoena for client information by, in part, treating a subpoena as if it were a court order. Last week, the ABA issued Formal Opinion 473, Obligations Upon Receiving a Subpoena or Other Compulsory […]