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. Legal ethics

California offers opportunity for a word (or 1,000) on the topic of sex with clients.

So, many moons ago I wrote a post about the fact that California was working through the process of trying to overhaul its ethics rules.  I said I’d get back to that topic, but never really did.  So, today, I am.  Kind of.  But not really. In the news within the last 24-36 hours are […]

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. Legal ethics

Going from “easiest” to “most difficult” in three weeks.

It is Election Day, but neither the title nor the subject-matter of this post have anything to do with that. Later this week, November 11, I will be fortunate enough to present at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Construction Counsel in Nashville and have billed my topic as “The Easiest Hour of […]

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. Legal ethics

Following up on that follow up

I probably should have taken the opportunity to say so in my last post – by way of contrast if not context — but one very obvious reason that the Ohio Supreme Court was able to move so quickly to adopt a revision to its RPC 1.2(d) to address its medical marijuana situation for lawyers […]

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. Legal ethics

Friday follow-up: Puff, puff, PA’s overreach

Couple of quick hits (pun wasn’t really intended but just sort of happened) for this Friday. A little more than a month ago, I wrote about an ethics opinion out of Ohio that created a real dilemma for lawyers looking to advise businesses related to the medical marijuana industry that was going to become legal […]

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. Legal ethics

Proposal to adopt Ethics 20/20 Revisions in Tennessee Put Out For Public Comment

Back in August 2012, the ABA House of Delegates approved revisions to the ABA Model Rules proposed by the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission.  Very few of the proposed revisions included in the ABA Ethics 20/20 package are earth-shaking revisions, as many of them only involve change to language in the Comment accompanying certain rules. The […]

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. Legal ethics

Ohio ethics opinion is concrete example of “Tis better to ask forgiveness than permission.”

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.” Those words, or words of similar effect, make up a pretty widely recognized adage.  Depending on the details of any situation, the adage can serve as a proxy for pretty decent advice for a lawyer to give a client, but often less so if the lawyer’s […]

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. Legal ethics

Two developments from the ABA Annual Meeting – which one will have the bigger impact?

The 2016 ABA Annual Meeting continues today and tomorrow but the two actions for which it likely will be most remembered have already transpired.  One happened Monday when, after much public discussion and multiple revisions to the proposal along the way, a final set of proposed revisions to ABA Model Rule 8.4 was approved in […]

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. Legal ethics

Thoughts only partly relevant to California’s roll out for public comment of rules revisions.

One mistake.  What should be the price of one mistake?  To some extent, the answer to those questions for lawyers and lawyer discipline matters ought to be foreordained in two consecutive paragraphs of the Scope portion of the ABA Model Rules: [19] ….the rules presuppose that whether or not discipline should be imposed for a […]

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. Legal ethics

Friday follow up: In-house counsel amnesty deadline just a week away

In the very early days of this aspiring little blog, I wrote repeatedly about a number of proposed, and ultimately adopted, changes to Tennessee’s admissions and licensing rule, Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7.  Included among the implemented changes was one last chance at amnesty for lawyers working in Tennessee as in-house counsel but who were […]

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. Legal ethics

Revisiting the question of whether the ethics rules need revamping as to discrimination & harassment

So, quite a few months ago, I wrote about what (I think) was the first iteration of the proposed revision to RPC 8.4 to add a black-letter rule addressing discrimination and harassment.  My verdict at the time was one of skepticism that it made any sense at all to move workplace and employment discrimination issues […]