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. Legal ethics

My 200th post: Living in a “post-fact” world?

So, not a milestone for some, but, for me, it feels like an achievement to have made it to my 200th post.  And because I’m a sucker for wordplay, I’ll use a “post” milestone to talk about an issue I’ve written about a good bit before but with a twist that also involves the word […]

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. Legal ethics

Bad ethics opinion or the worst ethics opinion? Tenn. FEO 2016-F-161 edition

I haven’t rolled a post out with this title in a while, but the more truthful title when it comes to an ethics opinion, issued here in Tennessee on September 9, 2016 would be: “More bad than worthless or more worthless than bad?” First, the good news.  Tenn. Formal Ethics Op. 2016-F-161 is short.  It won’t […]

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. Legal ethics

Another development on impaired lawyers, Virginia drafts an ethics opinion

Almost a year ago, I wrote a little bit about what was a first-of-its-kind rule adopted by South Carolina to address the obligations of lawyers in a law firm when a lawyer within their midst was becoming impaired as a result of aging.  South Carolina’s adoption of a new RPC 5.1(d) aimed at that specific […]

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. Legal ethics

Today – Ethical Issues When Changing Law Firms.

There probably has been news this week about a set of departures of lawyers from one prominent firm to another or efforts that firms are taking to disincentivize their lawyers from taking their clients and moving on to a new destinaton.  As I indicated on Monday, I’m not actually around at the moment so this […]

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. Legal ethics

A proposed ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) has been put out for public comment.

The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (“SCEPR”) has put out a proposed new RPC 8.4(g) for public comment with a March 11, 2016 deadline for any written comments.  The proposed rule revision would add to the list of types of prohibited conduct in RPC 8.4 the following: (g) in conduct related to the […]

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. Legal ethics

2 out of 3 ain’t bad – NC releases a threesome of ethics opinions on the same day

In a lot of jurisdictions, mine included, formal ethics opinions from the governing disciplinary body are issued, if not rarely, then on a “few and far between” kind of time frame.  In North Carolina, on October 23, 2015, 3 were released in one day. Two of them provide overall good advice.  One of those two […]

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. Legal ethics

South Carolina adopts first of its kind* rule on cognitive impairment.

My paternal grandfather succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease.  As someone who makes a living (such as it is) using his mind (and is pretty certain that he could not feed his family if forced to use his hands for a living), the loss of my mental faculties is one of my greatest fears.  In that regard, […]

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. Legal ethics

New ABA Formal Ethics Opinion Avoids As Many (or More) Questions Than It Answers Actually

Several years ago, we attempted in Tennessee to have our Court adopt an ethics rule that would specifically address what constituted client file materials. The effort was unsuccessful despite the fact that the rule we proposed was a strong, well-written rule. The primary reason we were unsuccessful was (as you’ll decipher from pages 24-25 of the […]

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. Legal ethics

A lawyer’s public interview that should never have happened…

This is not a political blog, nor even a civil rights law blog.  So, there would be no reason for me to write a word here that has anything to do with the Walter Scott incident.  But this is a blog about legal ethics and lawyering issues, and the former lawyer for the police officer […]