One Word Change Can Make a Big Difference
By Michael L. Crowley As most practitioners know by now, there was a major revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2018 that govern us all. One controversial change was to Rule 4.2...
Tagged: #ethicsinbrief
Engagement Letters: Some Ethical Considerations
By Mitchell L. Lathrop Professional ethics require that at the outset of the attorney-client relationship, the client is made aware of the nature and scope of the attorney’s responsibilities, usually through an engagement letter....
Is Your “Conflict Waiver” Worth the Paper It’s Printed On?
By David C. Carr It is a truism that lawyers are often better at protecting their clients than protecting themselves. One area that illustrates this is what are colloquially referred to as “conflict waivers.”...
Rules Listing Representative Cases and Clients on Your Website
By Anne Rudolph Some attorneys advertise their services by purchasing ads in the newspaper, a trade magazine, and in other more traditional ways that are easily understood to be marketing and advertising. All such marketing...
An Attorneys Ethical Duty of Honesty is All-Encompassing
By Charles Berwanger This article discusses an attorney’s ethical duty of honesty not only in all aspects of the law practice but in all personal matters as well. It also presages the California Legislature’s imposition...
Should Model Rule 8.3 Be Adopted in California: The Argument in Favor
By Timothy Casey This article responds to an earlier article that argued against adoption of American Bar Association Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3. (See, David C. Carr, Model Rule 8.3: The Argument Against,...
Reviewing Rule 4.2’s “No Contact” Rule Prohibiting Communication with a Represented Person Without that Person’s Lawyer’s Consent
By Richard D. Hendlin This Ethics in Brief will focus on the venerable “no contact” rule set forth in California Rules of Professional Conduct [CRPC] Rule 4.2 which had its origin in the first...
New Requirements Will Affect the Handling of Client Funds and Property in 2023
By Eric R. Deitz Changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct accompany the coming new year, and consistent with the duty of competence (Rule 1.1)[1], California attorneys must apprise themselves of the same. Two...
Implied Consent to Communicate with Represented Party in a Matter: May You Respond by the “Reply All” Email Tab Where Opposing Counsel’s Email to You Also Copies the Counsel’s Client?
By Charles Berwanger All of us have most probably received email communications from opposing counsel in a matter in which counsel’s client is shown as a “cc.” You have been waiting for the opportunity...
Ethical Issues As Counsel for Amici
By Jeff Michalowski In recent years, amicus briefing has played an increasingly significant role in appellate practice. This is true, of course, in blockbuster Supreme Court cases like Dobbs (in which 133 amici filed briefs)...