‘Generally Known?”: ABA Clarifies Attorney’s Duty of Confidentiality
In December, the ABA issued Formal Opinion 479, clarifying the concept of “generally known” in ABA Model Rule 1.9(c)(1). Confidentiality
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Third Party Conflict or Home Run?
On February 15th, a Texas appellate court held that lawyers who briefly represented a plaintiff and a third-party defendant in the same suit were not disqualified because the conflict of interest was quickly cured and the party seeking the disqualification was not actually prejudiced.
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Blind-Copying Clients on Email is Risky, Alaska Bar Warns
A recent ethics opinion issued in Alaska concludes that it is not necessarily unethical for attorneys to carbon-copy and blind-copy clients in e-mails exchanged with opposing counsel. Alaska
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New York: Okay to Limit Contact with a Difficult Client
A recent ethics opinion from the New York State Bar Association found that a lawyer may limit contact with a difficult client provided that the lawyer maintain prompt communication and consultation with the client on matters within the lawyer’s duty of communication. Okay
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ABA House of Delegates Approves Novel Virtual Currency Draft Legislation
At a recent meeting, the ABA House of Delegates approved draft uniform legislation regarding virtual currency.
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Keeping It All in the Family—When Should State Supreme Court Justices Recuse Themselves?
An Ohio Supreme Court Justice has become the subject of an ethics complaint that alleges the Justice decided cases in which his father was a named party, allowed his father to use the Justice’s image to promote his father’s gubernatorial campaign, and abused his clout to help his son obtain a paid internship at an Ohio county prosecutor’s office. Family
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Timeshare Corp’s Lawsuit Against Law Firm for False & Misleading Advertising Survives Motion to Dismiss
A Florida U.S. District Court denied a law firm’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges that the firm employs false and misleading advertising to obtain and encourage clients to breach timeshare contracts.
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Pennsylvania District Court Finds No Attorney-Client Privilege for Settlement Lists in Delinquent Tax Case
On February 1, 2018, a Third Circuit panel affirmed a Pennsylvania district court’s ruling in favor of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), concluding that the attorney-client privilege does not shield an attorney’s client and settlement lists from the IRS during an investigation for delinquent taxes.
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Non-Resident New York Defense Counsel Disqualified: Virtual Office Space Insufficient
A non-resident New York attorney and a California firm serving as co-counsel were disqualified from representing the defendants in a New York case based upon the plaintiff’s motion that alleged, in part, that defense counsel did not maintain a physical office space in the state of New York.
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U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Ninth Circuit to Study Workplace Code of Conduct
Allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace have recently been in the forefront of the country’s major news stories, and the judicial branch is no exception. In fact, in his end of the year report on the judiciary U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts noted
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