A Lawyer in Motion—A Conflicts Puzzle Solved
The Utah Bar recently considered the following conflicts inquiry. Puzzle
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An Attorney’s Duty of Confidentiality: Responding to a Subpoena for Client Files
On February 16, 2016, the ABA issued Formal Opinion 473, which revisits Formal Opinion 94-385 that was issued in 1994. In 1994, Model Rule 1.6(b), provided only two instances when a lawyer could disclose confidential information in response to a subpoena—to protect against certain crimes and to establish certain claims or defenses on behalf of the lawyer.
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Attorneys v. Clients: Clients Ordered to Pay $350K for Online Defamation
As the old adage goes, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.” Clients
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California Lawyers Receive Clarification on the Limits of Negotiation ‘Puffery’
The State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct released an opinion this month concluding that while engaged in negotiations on behalf of a client, an attorney’s puffery and posturing are generally permissible, but false statements of fact or implicit representations are prohibited. Clarification
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New Social Media Opinions: West Virginia and Colorado
Recently, two more states, West Virginia and Colorado, joined the legal ethics conversation regarding social media, issuing opinions that are generally consistent with most other states’ social media opinions.
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Is Your LinkedIn Profile Attorney Advertising?
Does an attorney’s LinkedIn profile necessarily constitute attorney advertising?
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What’s In A Name? Lending Name to Out of State Attorney Results in Suspension
An Order was recently entered by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, suspending an attorney from the practice of law for a period of three months as a direct consequence of his allowing the use of his name and law license by a California attorney seeking to practice in New Jersey. Lending
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South Carolina Attorneys May Tout Certification as Privacy Professional
Can attorneys use a Privacy Professional as their designation in a signature block? Are attorneys implicating ethics rules, such as advertising, by doing so? The South Carolina Bar recently issued an Ethics Advisory Opinion stating that a lawyer who is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/US (“CIPP/US”) may use that designation in her e-mail signature block and other communications. Certification
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Crowdfunding for Legal Fees?
What is crowdfunding? It is the use of an Internet site to share information about a project in order to solicit money from the public. Individuals who contribute are not given a financial stake in the project.
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Attorneys Beware: Mailing a Subpoena that Warns of Noncompliance Sanctions May Constitute an Ethical Violation
May attorneys include language threatening sanctions for noncompliance when they send a subpoena duces tecum by mail? Mailing
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