That title is probably a thing somewhere else on the interwebs already, but I’m just lazy enough to not look it up at the moment. So, it’s been a minute since I have written anything about the progress (or lack thereof) of jurisdictions adopting ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) and since I have written anything (other […]
So, I’m doing everything I can to only write about this stuff occasionally, but the latest stunt in connection with the ongoing investigations into the current administration requires at least some discussion – not just because of the brazen hypocrisy (after all the ethics rules do not prohibit lawyers from being hypocrites) but because the […]
Fettered is a fun word on a number of levels. It is a word lawyers are usually familiar with when it has a prefix attached to it and gets used when we talk about disclosures or access as being “unfettered.” But, it is also a word that literally means “to be restrained with chains,” so […]
So, this post isn’t exactly about legal ethics. Of course, it isn’t exactly not about legal ethics. I’ve written a bit here recently about various jurisdictions launching increasingly bolder initiatives to try to reform the regulatory landscape when it comes to the delivery of legal services. Many critical voices of these initiatives demand evidence that […]
And, no, in the title I’m not referring to the leak of information about the California Bar essay topics before the bar exam. Although that story is certainly bananas. You’ve likely by now read at least something somewhere online about the most recent product coming out of the California State Bar Task Force on Access […]
I have made a living (well not actually a living since no one compensates me in any form of currency, whether crypto or otherwise, for my writings here) writing about problematic ethics opinions. July 11, 2019 brings what might be the most practically useless ethics opinion ever released. If it were only just practically useless, […]
Just two short items by way of follow up from pieces I’ve written about in the past here. First, I’ve written several different posts about the saga down in Florida that appeared to be one of the first big disputes – post the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the North Carolina Board of Dentistry case […]
I have beaten the drum for many, many years now about lawyers not understanding the true scope of their obligation of confidentiality under rules patterned after ABA Model Rule 1.6. The ability to quickly share information far and wide online has not been helpful to lawyers who lack that understanding. I remain astounded at how […]
You’ve probably heard this news by now. But, it’s Friday and I wrote about this before, so … I feel a sense of obligation to follow-up. The Florida Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the fact that a judge is Facebook friends with a lawyer appearing before her in a litigated matter is not alone sufficient to […]
People often think of lawyers and judges differently. And, to a large extent, they should. In almost every situation, someone cannot become a judge without having been a lawyer first. But once a lawyer transforms into a judge, their role in the judicial system becomes radically different and they now have a new set of […]