Sanctions have long been available under federal statute for “multiply[ing] the proceedings in any case unreasonably and vexatiously.” Entitled “Counsel’s Liability for Excessive Costs,” 28 U.S.C. § 1927 is a short and seemingly straightforward provision that applies to “[a]ny attorney or other person admitted to conduct cases in any court of the United States…” and
Rule limiting lawyer claims of “expertise” is unconstitutional, says Florida district court
A Florida Bar rule blocking a personal injury law firm from stating that it specializes in mass-tort cases is unconstitutional as applied, a Florida federal district court recently held. The court enjoined the Florida Bar from enforcing its Rule 4-7.14(a)(4), which prohibits statements “that a lawyer is … a specialist, an expert, or other
LegalZoom GC sees self-help model as legal-services solution; others see problems
With the goal of positioning his on-line legal forms company as a solution to America’s access-to-justice problem, Chas Rampenthal, General Counsel of LegalZoom, zoomed through my home state last week, with two speaking engagements. I caught his speech at a breakfast meeting at my home-town bar association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (@clemetrobar).
A panacea
Can lawyers barter their services? Connecticut ethics opinion says “Yes.”
Bartering for goods and services seems old-fashioned, even primitive — after all, that’s why money was invented, right? But bartering might be viewed as a component of today’s “sharing economy,” which involves more-direct, Internet-facilitated interactions between consumers and providers.
A recent informal opinion of the Connecticut Bar Association Standing Committee on Professional Ethics
Negotiating for legal employment with the “other side” raises ethics issues
When you start planning to leave your firm for greener pastures, lots of ethics issues can crop up (bad pun). One of the most acute issues is if you get an offer to join a firm that is on the opposite side of a matter you are already handling. That was the situation in a