Articles Posted by Jan Jacobowitz

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Chatting and texting

“Chatting” or Texting with Clients During Their Testimony Led 2 Attorneys to No More Chatting or Texting with Any Clients

by in Attorney Mistake, Attorney Suspension, discipline, legal ethics, Technology, texting. Posted March 3, 2022
Arizona Attorney Suspended for Coaching Client During Virtual Cross-Examination Florida Attorney Suspended for Texting Client During a Telephonic Deposition By Jan L. Jacobowitz and Lauren Maier Chatting, texting, and suspensions, Oh My! There seems to be no number of times that is too many to remind lawyers that the legal ethics rules continue to apply ...
Tags Fairness to Opposing Counsel Technology and Competence
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remote work

Care to Comment? California Issues Interim Formal Opinion 20-0004 on Remote Work

by in Advisory Opinion, Remote Work, Rules of Professional Conduct, Technology. Posted August 13, 2021
California Formal Opinion Interim No. 20-0004 on Remote Work Yesterday, the the State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct posted Formal Opinion No. 20-0004 on remote work for comment. The opinion acknowledges the increase of attorneys remotely working driven both by technology and external circumstances that include Covid-19 and natural disasters ...
Tags California Remote work
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Suspension

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Giuliani’s New York Law License Suspension

by in Attorney Suspension. Posted July 16, 2021
Giuliani Interim Suspension I did not rush out of the gate to discuss the extremely well publicized (See, for example, NPR, CNN, NYT, and Forbes) interim suspension of Rudy Giuliani’s New York law license or the reciprocal interim suspension imposed the District of Columbia. There has been so much coverage that I found it interesting ...
Tags First Amendment Lawyer Interim Suspension
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Social Media

More Social Media Trouble in the Legal Profession: South Carolina Orders 6 Month Suspension for Incendiary Facebook Posts

by in Attorney Suspension, Social Media. Posted July 14, 2021
Social media update… A(nother) lawyer recently made the news for a suspension based on controversial Facebook posts. The South Carolina Supreme Court decision suspending the lawyer for six months based upon twelve offensive posts on Facebook found that the lawyer’s conduct brought the legal profession into disrepute and violated both the letter and spirit of ...
Tags Incendiary Facebook posts Lawyer Suspension
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Diversity

Florida Legal Ethics Update: From Questioning Diversity Quotas to Proposals for a Regulatory Sandbox and More

by in Access to Justice, Attorney Advertising, CLE requirements, legal ethics, Legal Services, negative online reviews, regulatory sandbox, Rule 5.4 Professional Independence of a Lawyer, Technology, UPL. Posted July 12, 2021
Florida CLE Diversity Controversy The Florida Supreme Court attracted national attention when it recently sua sponte changed the CLE programming requirements such that The Florida Bar cannot approve CLE programming and Florida lawyers cannot receive CLE credits for attendance at any program for which there was a diversity requirement or quota pertaining to the selection ...
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Sanctions for profanity

Profanity is Costly: Lawyer Sanctioned for Conduct Unbecoming and F*** You

by in Professionalism. Posted June 19, 2021
Florida Federal Court Imposes Sanctions for Profanity and Unprofessionalism Three depositions, two lawyers, and one court reporter…what could go “wrong?” Apparently, conduct by all three that included one lawyer telling the other lawyer to, “Shut the f*** up.” The dispute seems to have exploded after one lawyer, Mr. “K” objected to the use of the ...
Tags attorney misconduct profanity Sanctions
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First Amendment

HawkLaw Attorney Advertising Being Preyed Upon By South Carolina Bar Authorities?

by in Advertising Rules, Attorney Advertising, First Amendment, lawyer advertising. Posted June 9, 2021
First Amendment v Attorney Advertising Regulation The internet’s low cost and ease of advertising has increased the focus on the tension between the state regulation of attorney advertising and attorneys’ First Amendment right to commercial speech that was  established by the US Supreme Court in Bates v Arizona in 1977. The latest episode is taking ...
Tags Attorney advertising South Carolina
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law books

New York Lawyer Rental Office Business for Lawyers Ok’d By NYSBA 1223

by in Advertising, Advertising Rules, Advisory Opinion, Attorney Advertising, Rules of Professional Conduct. Posted June 4, 2021
When New York Lawyers are Your Renters Rather than Your Clients As the pandemic winds down and folks return to work, there is a lot of discussion about the work place—remote, in person, or hybrid—and the nature of a post COVID work space. In New York one lawyer recently submitted an inquiry to the New ...
Tags ancillary business
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remote work

Florida Approves Remote Work in Opinion SC20-1220

by in ABA Opinion, Advisory Opinion, Florida, Florida Bar, Florida Supreme Court, UPL. Posted May 28, 2021
New Jersey Lawyer May Work Remotely from Florida On May 20, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court approved an UPL Advisory Opinion that was filed with the Court in August 2020 and responded to a New Jersey Attorney’s inquiry as to whether he could practice New Jersey law from Florida without violating the unauthorized practice of ...
Tags Remote work Rule 5.5
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incivility

Civility 101 Homework: Judge Strikes Pleadings & Orders Deletion of “Jerry Springer” Vibe

by in communication, competence, Lawyers, legal ethics, Professionalism. Posted May 19, 2021
Civility 101 for Lawyers: Don’t Cross the Line Between Zealous Advocacy and Incivility The need for civility among lawyers is an age old topic. By nature the legal system is an adversarial one in which there are winners and losers. Civility factors into not whether you win or lose, but rather how you play the ...
Tags judicial sanctions professionalism
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