We appear to be living now in an era in which whistle blowers are going to be in the news (and perhaps be the news) more than ever. Many who know me, know that I hold a pretty controversial opinion — Arrested Development is potentially the greatest television show in history. For many years when I […]
I got a call a week or two ago from another Tennessee lawyer trying to noodle through a situation. The caller was curious to see if I could offer any insight about why a situation that seemed a bit broken was not. I couldn’t. Instead, I was able to sort of confirm for the lawyer […]
Back almost twenty years ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court warned New Jersey lawyers that “any act of violence committed by an attorney will not be tolerated” and to expect that the likely consequence for engaging in violent behavior would be “[n]othing less than a suspension.” They issued that warning in a case, In re Viggiano, […]
The week feels like it is getting away from me, some travel, some work, some personal life, but may be able to write about something more substantive I’ve been meaning to tackle for later this week. For today, here is a scattershot of stories all of which involve something previously found to be worthwhile enough […]
I’ve written (quite a long time ago now it seems, but it was only just last Spring) about the unfortunate nature of lawyers calling people who aren’t lawyers “nonlawyers” – rather than referring to them in a less condescending fashion such as “regular people,” for example. But, I still do it all the time, so […]
I’ve seen a number of short pieces around the Internet about the 70-year old Missouri lawyer who has gotten himself suspended for at least six months over a number of acts of misconduct, including (the thing most prominently mentioned) using information that his client improperly obtained by guessing someone else”s password. There is no question […]
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 […]
Thanks to ESPN I’ve long known more about Johnny Manziel than I care to. But, this past week, I learned something I really should never know — why his agent decided to fire Manziel as his client. Up until this past week, Erik Burkhardt was Manziel’s agent. Burkhardt is a law school graduate, but from […]
To pass the time during Snowmageddon (Snowpocalypse?), here’s a blogpost equivalent of an ink blot test. Do you think either of these situations (or both) (or neither) involve situations where disciplinary authorities should be allocating resources to go after lawyers under the ethics rules? The first inkblot: An attorney runs advertisements for his bankrutpcy practice […]
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 […]