Do lawyers need to be reminded not to lie to a federal agency?
As reported earlier this week on Law 360, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission has issued a wake-up call to lawyers who practice before the agency, warning them that intentionally misleading the Commission could lead to “public reprimands, sanctions and even
Going abroad? Think that “national counsel” is going to take care of anything that comes up when you’re gone? Get swamped when you return and take “several weeks” to wade through the e-mail that piled up in your absence? If you’re local counsel, that might be a recipe for disaster — for your client —
Everyone knows that we have an ethical duty of competence, and in most jurisdictions this includes a duty to be aware of the “benefits and risks” of relevant technology. Examples of possible technology issues affecting our practices: encryption (and cyber-security in general), cloud storage, e-mail handling, the internet of things — there
Some answers are so obvious that you are left wondering why the question needed to be asked in the first place. Like “should a client pay a fee it agreed to in advance?” Or, “should an attorney try his or her best to prevail?”
And now this: the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional
Picture this: You’re travelling across U.S. borders, heading home from a client meeting abroad. However, unlike other trips, this time a Customs and Border Protection agent requests that you unlock and hand over for inspection your computer and cell phone — full of client confidential information. You’ve been concerned about this issue, and so you’ve
In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which last month dumped up to 35 inches of rain on parts of the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland, caused 48 deaths, and up to $22 billion in property damage, comes a timely new ABA opinion about our ethical obligations related to disasters.
The hurricane did not spare
In a warning to semi-retired lawyers and others, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month affirmed a 90-day suspension for a lawyer who let others draft and sign his name to deficient pleadings, saying that “a lawyer’s good name and professional reputation are his primary stock in trade, an asset to be cultivated
Does the new year have you thinking about taking on work in a new practice area? Maybe business in your accustomed area is slowing, and you’re considering shifting gears. If so, beware of dabbling in areas where you don’t have the requisite knowledge and skill to provide competent representation to your client.
The ethical duty
Greetings 2018! Time for some ethics trend predictions to kick off the Year of the Dog (according to the Chinese zodiac). Let it be a year in which you doggedly pursue ethical practice (ouch). No more bad puns — here’s what’s hot as we begin the year:
Law firm cyber-security
No surprise here that the
If the clerk of courts e-mails you an order that your client must pay $1 million in attorney fees to the opposing party, but your spam filter catches the e-mail and then deletes it after 30 days without alerting you, and you therefore fail to appeal the order in time — well, your client may