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Category: Legal Ethics

Legal Ethics

Financial and Ethical Sanctions for Unmeritorious Litigation Claims: Two Recent Decisions Highlight the Necessity of Advancing Only Meritorious Litigation Claims

By Charles Berwanger

Those two decisions are: Plantations at Haywood 1, LLC v. Plantations at Haywood, LLC (2025) 108 Cal. App. 5th 803; and Lake v. Gates (9th Cir., 2025) 130 F. 4th 1064. Both culminated in the imposition of in excess of $80,000 in sanctions on the attorneys, not the parties, and directly or indirectly implicate rules of professional conduct. Read More

Legal Ethics

Why Civility Matters for Ethics, Mental Health, and Public Confidence

By Stacy Plotkin-Wolff

It’s mid-2025, and California’s new civility CLE requirement is now officially in effect. For the first time, all California attorneys must complete at least one hour of continuing legal education addressing civility in the legal profession. This change is more than a technical update to MCLE compliance—it represents a critical acknowledgment by the State Bar of California that civility is foundational to attorney wellness, ethical practice, and, ultimately, public confidence in the legal system. In an era where trust in institutions is increasingly fragile, how lawyers treat each other and the courts has become a reflection of how the justice system treats the public. Read More

Law Practice / Legal Ethics

Ethics in Brief: The File Retention Puzzle

By: David C. Carr

One of the more vexing puzzles in legal ethics is the seemingly straightforward question: How long do I keep the client’s file after the representation ends? There is no bright-line rule. There is no rule because of the varieties of legal representation and the differing needs of those varieties of clients. Some areas of litigation, like unlawful detainer practice, involve relatively swift proceedings and a great degree of finality, veritable mayflies in the legal ecosystem. Other areas of practice include issues and proceedings that can span years and even decades, like criminal defense, estates and probate practice, and sometimes marital dissolution practice where the client’s need for the file may be indefinite. The starting point for solving this puzzle is recognition that the client file is the property of the client and file retention practices are part of the fiduciary duty to safeguard client property that the lawyer owes the client.  Read More

Legal Ethics

The Client Intake Meeting: Two Recent Decisions Provide Guidance for Avoiding Conflicts and Disqualification

By Katie Parker

A frequent scenario: an attorney meets with a potential client about a matter, but then for any number of reasons they don’t end up forming an attorney-client relationship. Unsurprisingly, that meeting can potentially disqualify the attorney from representing another party to the matter they discussed. Two recent Court of Appeal decisions flesh out the parameters of the duties an attorney owes to a prospective client and provide guidance for lawyers to follow in client intake meetings.   Read More

Legal Ethics

The Ethical Obligations of a Court-Appointed Guardian ad Litem as Opposed to the Obligations held by a Court-Appointed Attorney

By Khodadad “Ko” Sharif

For all intents and purposes, an attorney appointed by the court to represent a party is in an attorney-client relationship with the party and bound by the rules of professional conduct. On the other hand, an attorney appointed as a Guardian ad Litem (“GAL”) answers to the court, and represents the ward’s best interest, not their wishes. The GAL does not enjoy an attorney-client relationship with the ward and owes no duty of confidentiality except when the GAL is involved in a privileged matter. “A guardian ad litem is not a party to an action, but merely the representative of record of a party.” Estate of Cochems, 110 Cal. App. 2d 27, 29 (1952). The appointment of a GAL can be under Section 372 of the Code of Civil Procedure or Section 1003 of the California Probate Code. When a person, whether a minor or not, lacks the capacity to make decisions, if the court determines that the appointment of a GAL would help represent their best interest, then a GAL is appointed. “[T]he authority of the guardian ad litem in relation to the suit is equal to what would be the authority of the ward if he were an adult.” In re Guardianship of Price, 61 Cal. App. 592, 599 (1923). Additionally, the GAL is protected by the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity. Read More

Legal Ethics

The Winding Road of Withdrawing from Representation to Paying Emotional Distress Damages

By Valerie Silverman Massey

In the recent case of Kaushansky v. Stonecroft Attorneys, APC, (Cal. Ct. App., Mar. 14, 2025, No. B317069) 2025 WL 814965, reh’g denied (Mar. 27, 2025), the court addressed a crucial aspect of professional conduct by examining the emotional distress suffered by a client due to the conduct of their attorney. Plaintiff, Kaushansky, filed a breach of fiduciary duty action (amongst others) against her former attorney, Stonecroft Attorneys, APC, after the attorney withdrew from representation. Read More

Law Practice / Legal Ethics

Conflicts in Love

By Mitchell L. Lathrop

            “But I love her,” cried the hapless attorney before the disciplinary panel, “and she expressly agreed that I could represent her in her divorce. Besides, we’ve been going together for over a year now, and we’ve never had sexual intercourse.” Regrettably, for the attorney, love cannot serve to waive conflicts of interest or the rules! Read More

Law Practice / Legal Ethics

Ethics in Brief: Criticizing Judges — Proposed Amendment to a Rule of Professional Conduct

By Edward J. McIntyre

The State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC) is recommending to the Board of Trustees that the Board recommend to the Supreme Court a change in Rule 8.2 (Judicial Officials), by the addition of a new Comment [1]. The California Judges Association requested the change in response to increased public criticism of judges resulting in threats and violence against judges due to their rulings. This endangers judicial independence, public trust in the legal system, and ultimately the rule of law. Read More

Law Practice / Legal Ethics

Understand Your Audience: Highlights of the California Code of Judicial Ethics

By Charles V. Berwanger

Much has been written about the California Rules of Professional Conduct in this column. There is another set of rules of professional conduct regarding the ethical requirements of judges. A competent lawyer who complies with California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1 will necessarily understand that the judge before whom appearances are made will also have ethical imperatives and constraints which the judge must follow and which affect the practice of law. Read More

Legal Ethics

Ethics in Brief: Enforcing Civility

By Stacy Plotkin-Wolff

“Lawyers who know how to think but have not learned how to behave are a menace and a liability to the administration of justice.” Excerpts From the Chief Justice’s Speech on the Need for Civility, New York Times, May 19, 1971, Page 28. More than fifty years later, the California State Bar proposed amendments to the California Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rules 1.2 and 8.4, and the introduction of new Rule 8.4.2 to specifically address civility. The California Supreme Court is poised to adopt these long-debated civility rules, which would make California the fifth state to adopt such rules. What are the proposed rules, how will they be enforced, and who will enforce them? Read More