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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
By David C. Carr Two years ago, the State Bar implemented the Client Trust Account Protection Program (CTAPP). The aim of CTAPP is to deter client trust account misconduct through the imposition of a...
By: Edward J. McIntyre New Year’s Day has come and gone. With it, family gatherings, festivities, football. We’re back at work, facing 2025. But, before getting knee-deep in our practices, clients, and other stuff,...
By Charles Berwanger The purpose of this article is to provide a skeletal outline of the State Bar’s disciplinary process and recommendations for dealing with it. Foundational to the Rules of Professional Conduct is...