So, today is the one-year anniversary of my first post. Today’s entry is the 130th blogpost at Faughnan On Ethics.com, which looking back at the original concept I had in my head — having my blogposts be more concise takes on issues of interest to me, rather than the longer-form pieces I had previously done […]
I like a well written, helpful ethics opinion as much as the next guy. Probably more so, given the statistically low likelihood that anyone standing near me at a given time is also a male lawyer who commits a significant part of their practice to legal ethics and professional responsibility matters. I think I’ve also […]
Given that there isn’t a lot going on in the news that relates to legal issues, I feel obligated to offer lawyers something to read. (I don’t think I’ve ever gone on record here about how badly I wish someone would create and implement a sarcasm font upon which all users could agree. Maybe it […]
Two recent events have brought me back around to wanting to talk about ethics issues raised by this fascinating documentary. One event is public and absurd. The other event was semi-private and surprising (at least to me). As neither of the recent events are actually the thing I wanted to talk about a couple of […]
Some time ago, I wrote a bit about how existing ethics rules make attempting to use Kickstarter to launch a law firm not a viable option. The primary problem with using crowdsourcing to raise funds to start a law practice is the prohibition in the ethics rules on nonlawyer ownership or investment in law firms. […]
Am pleased to report that I was given an opportunity by the fine folks with the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct to expand on my thoughts about the problem with Tennessee Formal Ethics Opinion 2015-F-160. Even if you are not a subscriber to the publication, you can read the article at this link on the Lewis […]
So, the latest rage in Netflix binge-watching is the documentary “Making a Murderer.” If you haven’t been engaged in a digital detox program over the last month or so, then you are likely aware of its existence. My wife and I just finished it up last evening. If you haven’t watched it, you really […]
For my last post of 2015, some thoughts on a frequent source of trouble for lawyers in certain practice areas where efforts are often made to charge nonrefundable fees. In Tennessee, back in 2011, our rules were revised to specifically acknowledge the legitimacy of the concept of a nonrefundable fee but also to impose certain […]
Many moons ago at this point, I wrote a post here with some criticism about ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 471 and the various questions important to client file issues on which it punted. Back then I also wrote about how our effort in Tennessee to get an ethics rule adopted (it would have RPC 1.19 in […]
I have made reference in the past on this blog about the problems that can come from the fact that Tennessee is one of a very few states that still use the “preponderance of the evidence” standard in disciplinary proceedings against lawyers. Fewer than a dozen jurisdictions including Tennessee still use that standard. Around forty U.S. […]