A lawyer’s duties in response to a data breach

 Over at Ethical Grounds, the unofficial blog of Vermont's bar counsel, Michael Kennedy reminds us of a lawyer’s duties in response to a data breach.

Do employment agreements that require a departing lawyer to compensate the firm for clients that follow the lawyer violate the Rules of Professional Conduct?

 Michael Kennedy, over at Ethical Grounds, discusses the issue here.

Vermont approves multiple amendments to its Rules of Professional Conduct

Mike Kennedy, Vermont's Bar Counsel, reports that about two weeks ago, the Vermont Supreme Court approved several amendments to the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct.  The Court’s order is here.  Some of the amendments are pretty significant.  They include:

Paragraph (c) of Rule 1.2 has been amended to require a lawyer who assists a person to prepare documents that the lawyer knows the person will file in court to comply with any court rules that might require a seemingly self-represented litigant to disclose having received legal assistance.  

Rule 1.6 has been amended to create exceptions to the duty of confidentiality that allow disclosure of information to secure guidance from bar counsel and to detect conflicts of interest when changing jobs.

Rule 1.6 was also amended to adopt an affirmative duty to make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of or unauthorized access to client information.  This provision is in Model Rule 1.6(c).

The duty (in Rule 4.4) to notify the sender upon receiving information that the lawyer knows or should know was inadvertently sent has been expanded to “information” from “document.”

A paragraph was added to the comment to Rule 5.5 to clarify that lawyers who are not admitted to practice law in Vermont do not necessarily engage in the unauthorized practice of law by working remotely from Vermont. 

Rule 8.4(b) prohibits lawyers from engaging in conduct that involves a “serious crime.”  The amendment broadens the definition of “serious crime.”

For the complete run down, go to Mike's post or watch this video in which he discusses amendments (which had not yet been adopted at the time of the video).

PR review: The Cs of legal ethics

 When I cover the duties owed to clients in class, I tell my students to remember the grades they do not want:  Cs, Ds and Fs.  This is a trick to get them to remember some basic concepts:  Competence, Confidentiality, Communication, Conflicts, Candor, Diligence and Fiduciary.  If you want another C, you can add civility.  

I am writing about this today because Mike Kennedy, Vermont's Bar Counsel, recently posted a short video on the subject here.

Proposal to amend the rules of professional conduct in Vermont

A recent proposal has been presented to amend a number rules in Vermont.  Vermont's Bar Counsel, Mike Kennedy, goes over the proposed changes in detail in a video posted to his  YouTube channel here.

Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism launches free online CLE program on lawyer wellness

I have written about the notion of "wellness" before, including about a report on the negative effects of the practice of law and the fact that Vermont has adopted a comment [9] to its rule on competence which states that maintaining mental, emotional, and physical well-being necessary for practice is important aspect of competence.

Today I want to let you know that the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism has created a free online CLE program on lawyer well-being that you can access by going here.

According to the website, attorneys who complete the CLE are eligible to receive 0.5 hours of mental health and substance abuse CLE credit in Illinois. During the 30-minute interactive eLearning attorneys will (1) understand the extent of the well-being crisis in the legal profession, (2) identify potential symptoms of stress, and (3) learn strategies to help maintain their well-being.

Vermont adopts rule regulating sexual relations with clients

Ethical Grounds is reporting that the Vermont Supreme Court recently adopted a version of Model Rule 1.8(j) which regulates sexual relations with clients.  The model rule has been in place for quite some time, and quite frankly I am surprised to hear it had not been adopted sooner.