Prosecutors’ Letterhead: Debt Collectors’ Unethical Weapon
Prosecutors’ offices should not contract with debt collection companies to use prosecutor letterhead to create and mail collection demand letters.
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Three Strikes! Lawyer Lacking Mindful Boundaries is Suspended for Facebook Message
A Kansas attorney has been suspended for 6 months for his inappropriate Facebook message to the unrepresented biological mother in a termination of parental rights case in which the lawyer represented the biological father.
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Keep Your Praise Private
A prominent patent attorney in California forwarded a congratulatory email he received from a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to more than seventy individuals, over half of which were clients and prospective clients. Praise
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Florida Campaign Solicitation Case heads to SCOTUS
The appeal of a Tampa lawyer, who was reprimanded by the Florida Bar for directly soliciting in-person judicial campaign contributions, will be heard by the nation's highest court, with potentially wide-ranging implications on judicial elections throughout the country.
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Increase in Ethics Compliance: ABA Guidance for Supervisory Prosecutors
Under ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Rules), prosecutors have the responsibility not simply of an advocate, but also, of a minister of justice. Supervisory
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Iowa Judge Suspended for Showing Up Drunk
In a September 2014 decision, the Supreme Court of Iowa suspended a district court judge for 30 days after being found to have arrived at the courthouse exceedingly drunk and unable to take the bench, over two years ago!
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Virtual Law Offices Permitted Under N.Y. Advertising Rules
According to the New York state bar’s ethics committee, attorney advertising ethics rules allow some nonresident attorneys who are licensed in New York to provide legal services to New Yorkers through a “purely virtual” office.
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Lawyer texts Client to “destroy the SIM”
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that a prominent Cincinnati defense attorney was acquitted on October 14, 2014 in federal court on obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice charges. Lawyer
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State Sanctioned Marijuana Use May Lead to Attorney Sanctions
In its recent Advisory Opinion 14-02, the State Bar Association of North Dakota Ethics Committee opined that a lawyer licensed in North Dakota who uses medical marijuana in a state that authorizes its use, violates North Dakota Rule of Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(b). Sanctioned
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Conflict of Interest Trail: From Law Clerk to Associate
The Texas Bar Ethics Committee in August 2014 analyzed whether the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct require a law firm to withdraw from representing a client if the law firm hires a new associate who, prior to becoming licensed to practice, was employed as a law clerk for the law firm representing the opposing party and helped provide services for the opposing party with respect to the lawsuit. conflict
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