The California court of appeals has denied a bid by an employment discrimination defendant to disqualify the plaintiff’s legal team. The name partner in the law firm representing the plaintiff was formerly the employer’s chief operating officer — but the court rejected the assertion that his firm should be disqualified merely based on his knowledge
Wife not liable for husband’s alleged malpractice; no partnership-by-estoppel, Third Circuit holds
If you and your spouse are both lawyers, you know that you potentially face a few unique ethics issues — conflicts and confidentiality are the most obvious ones. (We’ve considered some of the ins and outs Lawyer loses home to $1 million legal mal judgment after appeals court finds no exemption
Being in the cross-hairs of a client’s legal malpractice claim is a horrible-enough experience for any lawyer. Even worse would be if your house had to be sold in order to satisfy the former client’s default judgment against you, as the Seventh Circuit ordered in a case earlier this month. The opinion spotlights how state
Do we need a new “data-breach privilege”? Thoughts on the Sedona Conference proposal
The outlines of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine are well-established. But how should they apply when an organizational client suffers a cybersecurity event or other intrusion that results in a data breach? Should information about the company’s security policies pre-breach and its post-breach response be given any enhanced protection? Under what circumstances?
The questions
Keeping up with the Joneses: Should the Rules of Professional Conduct bend for in-house lawyers?
In-house attorneys face unique situations when it comes to client relationships and job responsibilities. But when it comes to ethical obligations, the Model Rules don’t recognize any difference between lawyers who work in-house and others. Model Rule 1.0(c) defines “law firm” to include lawyers employed “in the legal department of” an organization, and it has
Litigation-funding agreement “champertous” and unenforceable, MN appeals court rules
Third-party litigation funding is a growing and, some say, controversial industry. We’ve written before about whether such arrangements are permitted under state ethics rules (here), and we reported on the first effort to mandate disclosure of third-party funding via federal court rule (here), as well as the first state statute requiring
Impugning integrity of appellate judges draws stayed suspension for OH lawyer
Many litigation lawyers know about the “litigation privilege” (sometimes called the “judicial privilege”). The doctrine operates to immunize lawyers from liability for statements made during the litigation process that are related to the litigation, even if they injure an opposing party. (Here’s a 2015 Hofstra Law Review article that provides an overview.)
But lawyers
Blogging for fun and profit? Thoughts on our first five years
Today marks the fifth anniversary of this blog’s debut.
It’s been a wonderful ride. Waking up every Sunday morning (OK, most Sunday mornings), grabbing a cup of java, and writing 600 words about the latest in legal ethics might not be everyone’s idea of fun. But I’ve loved it.
Over the last half-decade our 230-some
No marketing using client’s info without express consent, says S.C. supreme court, even if “generally known”
As we’ve noted before (here and here), the ethical duty of confidentiality is broad, and can even cover publicly available information. Now comes a reminder that based on the confidentiality rule you should obtain consent before using your client’s name in marketing materials — and that some jurisdictions go even farther. For instance,
No DQ for firm in California homeless rights case, says district court
“DQ” at this time of year makes me think of drive-in ice-cream cones. But I actually mean “DQ” as in “disqualification,” and instead of sugar cones, it points to an interesting case involving some take-home lessons about conflicts of interest.
Crisis of unhoused residents
California’s massive homelessness problem has been the subject of several federal