What To Do When a Witness Lies
By Charles Berwanger Practice law long enough and it will happen to you. You’ll learn, after the fact, that a witness on whom you were counting lied at a deposition. With trial looming, what...
Tagged: #legalethics #ethics
Rule 1.18 Imposes Duties Owed To A Prospective Client, But Not All Communications Result in a Person Becoming A Prospective Client
By Anne Rudolph Lana Lawyer has a plaintiff’s personal injury practice. She does not maintain an internet web site and does not otherwise engage in advertising. However, her e-mail address is published on the State Bar...
Ethically Representing a Client at Deposition or Trial
By Eric Deitz A recent ABA ethics opinion addresses the demands that arise when preparing a client to testify and during their testimony. The ABA issued Formal Opinion 508 on August 5, 2023. While...
Ethically Managing Your Legal Intake Support Staff
Ethically Managing Your Legal Intake Support Staff It is important for lawyers to have a solid understanding of their ethical responsibilities when managing and supervising nonlawyer assistants involved in the client intake process. Recently,...
To Delete or Not To Delete, That is the Ethical Question
By Shelly Skinner Nowadays, it’s hard for a lawyer to ignore the ubiquity of social media and its potential to impact clients’ cases. Some jurisdictions have even said that a lawyer’s duty of competence...
Civility Comes Full Circle
By David C. Carr Once upon a time in the 19th Century, a man named David Dudley Field had some time on his hands. As a lawyer, this man was naturally inclined to write...
Ethical Considerations When Using an Online Referral Service
Ethical Considerations When Using an Online Referral Service As a personal injury lawyer who is only licensed to practice in California, you take great pride in using the latest technology as part of your...
Can the State Bar be held accountable for failure to discipline a lawyer?
By Deborah Wolfe One of the many facets of serving on the SDCBA’s Legal Ethics Committee (“LEC”) (in addition to penning articles for “Ethics in Brief “and “For the Record”) includes providing MCLE seminars...
Ethically Managing The Shiny New Toy: Ethical Obligations And Generative AI
By Edward J. McIntyre One would have to have been living on another planet not to recognize that generative AI is upon us —and all the rage. Whether ChatGPT, Bing A.I., Bard or some...
The Duty of Candor and Issue Forfeiture: A Hard Lesson from the Court of Appeal
The Duty of Candor and Issue Forfeiture: A Hard Lesson from the Court of Appeal Candor to the tribunal is among an attorney’s most basic responsibilities under the Rules of Professional Conduct. (See Rule...