This blog post was co-authored by Thompson Hine partner Tony Rospert and associate Micah Fishman.
Lawyers experienced in the art of settlement negotiations can become primarily focused on little more than getting the best results for their client and will
A common situation faced by law firms – and especially larger law firms – is the potential conflicts and disqualifications posed by Model Rule 1.10(a)’s imputation of one lawyer’s conflicts to all lawyers in the firm. This can become a substantial issue when different lawyers get initial calls from different parties to an event or
You just figured out that the materials you got from opposing counsel include documents that may have been inadvertently included. What should you do? Model Rule 4.4(b) provides a clear answer—promptly notify the sender. But what happens when you receive, through non-party discovery, a DropBox link that supplies you with live access to opposing party’s
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
If you have not heard of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), now is the time to become familiar. Millions of companies will be affected by its reporting requirements. With the effective date being right around the corner, all lawyers need to be thinking about the CTA. The CTA, which Congress passed as a component of
The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, (the Committee”) recently issued Formal Opinion 508—which highlights the differences between proper witness preparation and unethical “coaching.” The Opinion also sheds light on how remote platforms have paved the way for easier and less detectable means of improper coaching.
What is allowed?
Discussing testimony with
Rule 1.8 addresses conflicts that can arise between a lawyer and client (as opposed conflicts between clients). Prior to the adoption of Model Rule 1.8 in 1983, the ABA Model Code flatly prohibited agreements limiting liability. DR 6-102(A) provided that “A lawyer shall not attempt to exonerate himself from or limit his ability to
Multijurisdictional practice can make any lawyer’s head spin, especially for lawyers licensed in multiple jurisdictions. The ABA Standing Committee of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, (the “Committee”) recently issued Formal Opinion 504, which breaks down the choice-of-law rules found in Model Rule 8.5.
Litigation
Model Rule 8.5(b)(1) provides that, for conduct in connection with
Your client has just been sentenced as a first-time DWI offender earlier this morning. Later in the afternoon, you are in another courthouse. Your same client is facing sentencing for another DWI. The driver’s abstract has not yet been updated to reflect that, based on the morning’s plea, your client is no longer a first-time
Lawyers face tremendous professional stress in the best of times between long hours, deadlines, and the adversarial nature of the work itself. The landmark 2016 report, The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys[1], showed that attorneys experience problematic drinking at a rate much higher than other populations