Pro Bono Representation: Aspiration or Reality?
The American Bar Association (“ABA”) encourages every attorney to perform at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services each year.
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Relationships with Opposing Counsel: Cordial or Conflicted?
The American Bar Association recently issued Formal Opinion 494, which analyzes relationships among opposing attorneys in the context of the material limitation prohibition of the conflict rules.
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ABA Ethics Advisory Opinion 490: Judges Should Avoid Criminalizing Poverty through Fines and Fees
Earlier this year, the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued 490 titled Ethical Obligations of Judges in Collecting Legal Financial Obligations and Other Debts. ABA
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Will COVID-19—and Zoom—Change the Legal Profession Forever?
In the age of COVID-19, Zoom, and other videoconferencing platforms, are now more essential than ever to the legal profession.
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New Guidelines Address Federal Judges’ Affiliation with Liberal and Conservative Societies
An ethics opinion drafted by the Committee on Codes of Conduct of the U.S. Judicial Conference in January 2020 states that federal judges should refrain from becoming formally affiliated—either through membership or leadership roles—with the conservative Federalist Society and the liberal American Constitution Society. Societies
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Impartial or Not? Draft Ethics Opinion Advises Federal Judges to Avoid Membership in Partisan Legal Groups
In a recent draft advisory ethics opinion, the Committee on Codes of Conduct of the U.S. Judicial Conference advises federal judges against affiliation with the conservative Federalist Society and the progressive American Constitution Society.
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