
If a South American investor asks you to take delivery of $1 million cash in your law office, to deposit it into a client account and then wire it to different designated accounts, all to supposedly “leverage” additional funds to
Ethics, Professional Responsibility and More
We’ve noted before that just because information relating to your representation of a client might be publicly available, your duty of confidentiality means that you can’t disclose it if it is not “generally known.” The two concepts — public availability and being “generally known” — are not the same, as a New Jersey lawyer learned…
An Ohio lawyer crossed a border and also a line, leading to a two-year suspension and a restitution order under an opinion the state supreme court handed down this week. The suspension was based on ethics violations as to numerous clients, but one involved the prohibitions against unauthorized practice and sexual activity with clients. The…
Falling below the standard of care in providing legal services to a client can of course bring a malpractice claim down on your head — and as we’ve pointed out, the economic climate resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic raises the risk of such claims. Let’s say that you’ve actually made an error. If you…
When we scheduled our daughter’s wedding for March 15 in New York City, little did we know how surreal the world would be by then. The wedding did happen, with a much-reduced number of guests, hand sanitizer on each table, and with the hora joyously danced with gloves on. The next day, the governor banned…
As 2020 kicks off, let’s take a look back at situations that got lawyers into ethical hot water last year. They each point to some ways you can stay out of trouble this year.
1. Talk nicely
As widely reported, calling your opposing counsel a “bowl of d- – ks,” among other epithets is…
If you’re making a New Year’s resolution to improve your time-keeping and billing habits, you can draw inspiration from this cautionary tale, detailing how a Massachusetts lawyer, a partner at a large firm, has been suspended for six months for overbilling clients at her prior firm.
3,000+ billable hours?!
As widely reported, the partner’s…
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 …
Disclosing client information on Facebook has gotten yet another lawyer in trouble. A Massachusetts attorney was publicly reprimanded earlier this month for posting details of a guardianship case on the social media site, in violation of the Bay State’s version of Model Rule 1.6 (“Confidentiality of Information”). The Board imposed a public reprimand, rejecting an…
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…