Like it or not, artificial intelligence is not going away and it’s evolving—quickly.  While AI talk has been brewing for quite some time, many of us assumed AI’s direct effect on our business was still years off.  But over the last year the pace of development and use has accelerated exponentially and it is

Many of us have had the experience of opposing counsel copying their client on an email about the matter (and sometimes an email that takes us to task for some supposed transgression).  The immediate response may be to “Reply All” and tell the lawyer (and their client) that they are wrong.  Satisfying, but when you

Model Rule 4.2 is often referred to as the “no-contact” rule, prohibiting lawyers from contacting represented parties regarding the subject matter of the representation without first obtaining a court order or the consent of the other party’s lawyer.  Just last month, the ABA issued Formal Opinion 502, which warns pro se lawyers—that is, lawyers

The scope of the “no-contact rule” — barring a lawyer from communicating with represented persons — is spotlighted in a disqualification ruling that a Florida district court handed down earlier this month.  The opinion is a reminder that the prohibition against contact (without permission of the person’s counsel) extends only to “the subject of the

We’ve written a lot over the past six years about the Rules of Professional Conduct, and for good reason.  The lawyer conduct rules represent a floor:  when your conduct sinks below the floor, you can merit professional discipline.  But there are other norms and mores in our legal community, namely standards of professionalism.  As the

Most lawyers have a general understanding of the “no-contact rule”  — namely that under state versions of Model Rule 4.2, with a few exceptions, you can’t communicate directly on the subject of the representation with someone you know is represented by counsel.  But where does in-house counsel fit in?  Is in-house counsel “fair game”

As widely reported in the news, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals last month harshly rebuked an Illinois lawyer for submitting a rambling 86-page appellate brief that the court said was “incoherent” and “gibberish.”  Quotes from the brief indeed made it appear deficient.  (One section, said the court, consisted solely of the heading “GAMESMANSHIP” and 

You probably know about the ethics rule that prohibits lawyers from trying to prospectively limit their liability to clients (or at least I hope you do!).  You can find it in your state’s version of Model Rule 1.8(h).

In an interesting twist, the Utah Ethics Advisory Committee recently opined that it’s permissible to include