Although almost every U.S. jurisdiction now has some version of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, some of us who have been around awhile remember the old Disciplinary Rules, which governed lawyer conduct under the former Model Code of Professional Responsibility. (Or maybe you remember the Disciplinary Rules because you practice in a state
Judge not DQ’d by appearance of former spouse’s former law partner
In the olden days, lawyers and judges were men, couples lived together only after a wedding, divorce was less common, and marriage equality was not on the radar. So there was little occasion to wonder about ethical conflicts of interest that might be raised by lawyers or judges being married to each other, cohabiting with
No disqualification, even where parent and subsidiary are unified, district court rules
Although a corporate parent and its subsidiary may be unified in structure, that may not be enough to disqualify a law firm that is involved in suing the subsidiary while representing the parent.
That’s the message the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently sent via its decision in HLP Properties
Screening paralegals may avoid conflict problem
Can a non-lawyer staff member who joins your firm bring with her a conflict of interest that may be imputed to your firm and disqualify you from representing your client? It can happen.
In this age of employment mobility, staff members may come to your firm after having worked for opposing counsel on cases (or