The former general counsel for clothing retail giant Zara USA, Inc. can’t claim privilege in his discrimination-wrongful discharge suit for e-mails he created on a company-issued computer, said New York’s First Department court of appeals in an opinion last month — but the same material might be protected by the work-product doctrine, the court held.
New Jersey says “no” to Avvo, other on-line legal service platforms
Just last month, we wrote about a North Carolina draft proposal that would ease the way via its ethics rules for Avvo and other on-line legal services to operate there. Now, after a joint opinion from three New Jersey Supreme Court committees, the Garden State has turned thumbs down on such law platforms, citing issues
Virtual law offices OK’d, but unauthorized practice issues linger
Practicing law out of a “virtual law office” (“VLO”), without being tied to the overhead expense of a brick-and-mortar facility, is increasingly attractive to lawyers in many stages of their careers: junior lawyers hanging out their shingles in a tough market; senior lawyers who want to keep practicing, but in a flexible format; and mid-career
No shield for investigation interviews, district court holds in D.C. transit authority case
Whether you are in-house or outside counsel, your clients want the attorney-client privilege and/or work-product shield to apply to materials created as part of an internal corporate investigation. But the applicability of these doctrines is very fact-specific, and difficult facts can doom that desired outcome. That was the conclusion of the Washington, D.C. district court
Bring third-party funders out of “the shadows,” U.S. Chamber asks federal rules committee
Litigation funding is in the news again, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spearheading a request to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to require initial disclosure of all third-party agreements for compensation that are “contingent on, and sourced from, any proceeds of the civil action, by settlement, judgment or otherwise.”
The Chamber joined
LinkedIn profile helps draw bar discipline in two states for lawyer who wasn’t licensed
I love LinkedIn, but here’s a potential hazard — what you say there can and will be used against you if you’re engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.
A Colorado lawyer found that out the hard way: he was suspended in Pennsylvania for a year, and got the same discipline in Colorado,
Too many objections draws deposition sanctions from district court for frustrating fair exam
We’ve written before about deposition conduct that crosses the line between valid advocacy and sanctionable misconduct. Here’s the latest example, in which a New York federal magistrate imposed sanctions on a defense lawyer for the City of New York, who interjected over 750 statements on the record, including more than 600 objections across 84
Join ‘em if you can’t beat ‘em? NC considers ethics rule changes to aid Avvo-like services
Avvo Legal Services has been meeting with North Carolina bar regulators, resulting in a draft proposal that would amend several legal ethics rules and make it easier for Avvo to operate in the Tar Heel State, according to Prof. Alberto Bernabe, a Chicago law professor who has seen some of the relevant documents, and
Keeping compliance authority responsible: Settlement of suit vs. MoneyGram’s CCO points to lessons
Our guest blogger is a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP)®.
Increased scrutiny for Chief Compliance Officers
Compliance officers are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of regulatory agencies. The Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission have announced their intention to hold companies accountable through the individuals involved. As a result, many in
Virginia simplifies and modernizes lawyer advertising rules; who’s next?
Based on a perceived need to “simplify and modernize” lawyer advertising rules, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s supreme court has adopted a new set of regulations that will make it easier for lawyers there to market their services. The slimmed-down rule, effective July 1, will consist of a single provision that bars false or misleading