March 2017 - Legal Ethics Advisor

Office-Sharing Lawyers Found to Be in Same Firm

by MatthewDennison in Featured, Professionalism. Posted March 30, 2017

The Missouri Court of Appeals recently ruled that two attorneys who share office space may be members of the same firm and therefore not bound by the ethics rules on fee-sharing among unaffiliated lawyers.

Work-Product Protection in Full Force

by Daniel Celaya in Featured, work product privilege. Posted March 29, 2017

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that evidence of a client thinking about using a lawyer’s advice to cover up a money-laundering scheme was not enough to defeat work- product protection.

A Company Insider May Serve as its Trial Counsel

by Paige Comparato in Featured. Posted March 27, 2017

Recently, a Tennessee federal magistrate judge held that a company would be able to use its inside counsel as its trial counsel, even though he had strong ties to the case. Insider

DC Bar: Lawyers Must Consider Ethics When Dissolving Law Firms

by Vincent Calarco in Ethics Opinion, Featured. Posted March 25, 2017

Closing the doors on a law firm includes much more than just locking the door behind you. “Dissolution” means the process of terminating the law firm’s existence as a legal entity. DC

When Must a Lawyer Plotting a Lateral Move Obtain a Client’s Informed Consent?

by Anibal Manzano in confidentiality, Featured. Posted March 23, 2017

1. Conflict of Interest and Informed Consent Lawyer

It’s Like Leaving the File on a “Bench in the Public Square”: Unsecured Storage Results in Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege

by Ellen Kruk in confidentiality, Featured. Posted March 21, 2017

Recently, a Virginia federal magistrate judge held that a party waived its attorney-client privilege when it posted unsecured, confidential information to a file-sharing website. Citing public policy reasons, the court ruled that uploading a file that was not password protected and available to anyone on the Internet to view is akin to leaving the file on a “bench in the public square.” storage

New Jersey: Prosecutors Cannot Publicly Display Seized Contraband

by Justin Boyd in Ethics Opinion, Featured, Professionalism. Posted March 6, 2017

In February, the New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics opined that a prosecutor is prohibited from making “extrajudicial statements featuring displays of seized drugs, weapons, or other contraband.” Prosecutors

Young Lawyers Beware!

by SabrinaRishmague in Featured, Professionalism. Posted March 5, 2017

The Indiana Supreme Court recently suspended a young lawyer for at least two years for breaching 19 ethics rules. Young

[…] of a non-binding advisory opinion, as has been the case with other jurisdictions such as, Florida, San Francisco, and Delaware, it is important to note that Ohio went a step further and amended its rule regarding […]

Remote Lawyering: New Jersey and Ohio On Board - Legal Ethics Advisor on Remote Work: San Francisco Bar Association Advice in Ethics Opinion 2021-1
Not all jurisdictions have adopted the Model Rule version of the choice of law rule; seems like there might be a different result in at least some of those states. See, e.g., NY RPC 8.5(b)(2)(i) ("If the lawyer is licensed to practice only in this state, the rules to be applied shall be the rules of this state").

Art Lachman on ABA Opinion 499 Green Lights Lawyers’ Passive Investment in Firms with NonLawyer Ownership

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Monthly Archives: March 2017