Categories
. Legal ethics

It’s another fine day to abolish the bar exam.

Now is another of the various times of year throughout the nation when law school graduates finish waiting anxiously for bar results and find out whether they passed and get the opportunity to start digging their way out of the debt they amassed in law school or failed and, thus, have to wrestle with the […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

The scams evolve. So too must lawyers.

I mentioned in a prior post that I was going to be fortunate enough to preside over the first in-person meeting of APRL in many, many moons last week. I’ve also written in the past about APRL has begun working into its programming items we call “Fred Talks.” These are Focused. Rapid. Ethics. Discussions. Shorter […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

I Take No Joy in Writing This.

So, a relatively quick post for this week in terms of content as I’m thrilled to be somewhere else and to be presiding over the first in-person meeting of APRL in two years. A lawyer in Tennessee brought my attention to an article in a recent ABA publication where two academics, Professor Peter Joy and […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Federal court releases crackin’ sanctions ruling

I will not seek pardon for the pun. I will also try not to prolong the nature of this post because the opinion that is the subject matter for today is a very good read, worthy of the limelight. I have written on several occasions about the problematic efforts of two particular members of my […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

A cautionary tale of sorts for solos

It was many, many years ago (almost exactly 5 years ago) that I wrote a bit about how important it can be for lawyers who have solo practices to have contingency plans in place in case something suddenly happens to them in order to provide a way for their clients to be protected. As we […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Update on racial insensitivity within the practice of law.

It still exists, of course. No real surprises there. In just the last two weeks, there have been multiple stories that drive that point home. One such story, while admittedly actually involving a sitting judge rather than a practicing lawyer, is this one out of Colorado. Another such story involves a New York lawyer who […]

Categories
Judicial Ethics

It’s always easy to get distracted by the cat.

So, if you’re involved in the legal profession, one thing was guaranteed to make it into your email inbox or social media feed or both. And, no, it wasn’t even the atrocious lawyering that was on display in the defense in Washington, D.C. of a former social media influencer. It was undoubtedly the 34 second […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Everything is arbitrable in New Jersey. (Sort of)

Lawyers and law firms have long struggled – at least during the length of my career – with whether they can, or should, include a provision in their contracts with clients that would require arbitration of some, or all, kinds of disputes. In situations where a local or state bar association offers a free, voluntary […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Two ethics opinions: one good, one bad, but both reveal systemic problems.

So, New York and Florida. Interestingly, those states have been bookends of our nation’s problems with COVID-19 and with fighting it. New York got hit very badly early, given the concentrated nature of its population centers, but then engaged in a very serious effort of taking the virus very seriously and managed to significantly flatten […]

Categories
. Legal ethics

Two for Thursday.

It is Thursday, right? In a “recent” effort, I mentioned that there were recent developments I was planning to eventually write about. Today presents an effort at checking two of them off the list that have only Tennessee in common. Neither of which likely provides fodder for a full post, so they will be covered […]