Professional Responsibility Blog

The California bar's ethics committee recently issued an opinion (Formal Op. 2015-192) attempting to clarify whether an attorney seeking...

The Legal Talk Network has a new podcast on lawyers and modern technology. You can listen to it by clicking on the play button below. If yo...

A new case has reached the Supreme Court on whether an exonerated criminal defendant who spent years in prison after a prosecutor violated ...

Raise your hand if you think the attorney client relationship is a fiduciary relationship.  Wait, not all hands are up?  How come?  Yesterda...

Back in 2012, in response to a complaint filed by a judge, the New Jersey Supreme Court approved a new ruled that stated that an attorney “m...

Legal Ethics in Motion is reporting that the Florida Bar’s Professional Ethics Committee has just issued Proposed Advisory Opinion 14-1, wh...

Yesterday I wrote about cases on improper arguments by prosecutors, and in particular about the improper use of PowerPoint slide shows.   A...

Long time readers of this blog will remember the many cases I have reported over the years where courts had to decided whether to reverse a ...

A man who worked for several years as a prosecutor in Corpus Christi, Texas is suing the District Attorney's office arguing that he was ...

 Mike Frisch (Georgetown) who runs the Legal Profession blog has posted a great question:  You are Disciplinary Counsel in your jurisdicti...

The Sixth Amendment Center, a non-profit organization founded to assist states and local governments in meeting their constitutional obliga...

The Legal Ethics Forum has published its annual list of top stories for the past year here .  There is also a link to a list of stories on C...

A couple of months ago, the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics issued an opinion on an interesting question: ...

Yesterday, I commented on the recent interview with Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor who handled the Grand Jury proceeding ag...

Almost exactly one year ago, I reported on a challenge to the advertising rules in Florida ( here ).  Coincidentally, just a few days ago, t...

Below you will find a video of a radio interview with Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor who handled the Grand Jury proceeding...

Richard Zitrin (UC Hastings) has published a column in The Recorder on what has been happening in California.  As you know, not too long ago...

A couple of days ago I posted a link to an article discussing prosecutorial discretion and what The New York Times called a "prosecuto...

I have mentioned in the past that the use of the phrase "and associates" in a firm name can be found to be misleading when, in fa...

Back in July 2013, the Massachusetts Supreme Court held that confidential communications between law firm attorneys and a law firm's in...

In an interesting turn of events, the Legal Profession blog is reporting that two Nashville lawyers are suing the Tennessee ethics board fo...

Here is an interesting article on prosecutorial discretion called Prosecutorial Discretion Under Fire: The Common Thread in the President’...

About two weeks ago, I posted a link to a comment on whether the prosecutor in Ferguson, Mo., had acted unethically because of a conflict of...

The Indiana Court of Appeals had reversed a burglary conviction based on its conclusion that the prosecution knowingly used perjured testim...

About two weeks ago, the National Press Club in Washington, DC (NACDL), released a new report, called "Material Indifference: How Court...

Here is a good short comment by Prof. Ronald Rotunda on the issues raised when lawyers overbill clients.

The new issue of the ABA Professional Lawyer is available here   (for a limited time).  It includes the following articles: Unfinished Bu...

I have used the phrase " spectacular incompetence " before, but this case may just be the worst.  At the time of the year when man...

I have written before about the debate on whether the state should provide attorneys to litigants who can't afford them in civil litigat...

The South Carolina Court of Appeals has found ineffective assistance of counsel in a case where the defendant was not advised of a ten-year ...

As we watch the events in Ferguson, Missouri unfold, here is a short comment by Prof. Monroe Freedman arguing the prosecutor in charge of t...

The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued a new Formal Opinion (No. 469).  You can read the full opini...

About ten days ago, in a case called Fabian v. Lindsay, the South Carolina Supreme Court recognized a cause of action, in both tort and cont...

As I reported recently ( here ), the California Supreme Court has decided not to adopt a proposal for new rules of professional conduct. As ...

Here is another podcast on ethical issues related to social media.  If you can't see the play button below, you can listen to the progra...

Legal Ethics in Motion is reporting on an interesting Advisory Opinion issued a couple of months ago by the Ethics Committee of the State Ba...

Whether law firm ownership should be limited to lawyers is one of the most important debates going on in the American legal profession today...

Last week the Puerto Rico Supreme Court issued an opinion resolving a debate that had been hanging over the legal profession in the island f...

After writing about the recent decision by the California Supreme Court to reject a proposal to adopt the ABA Model Rules, I realized that I...

About two months ago I reported ( here ) that the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a very important opinion concluding that the use of ineffect...

About a year ago, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees charged the Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform with “[e]xamin[ing]...

The headlines in today's ABA Journal online include the following stories: Ex-judge gets 60 days and 6 months of house arrest for fals...

You may have heard the expression "better (easier?) to ask for forgiveness than to request permission" (or something to that effec...

As I reported recently ( here ), the California Supreme Court has decided not to adopt a proposal for new rules of professional conduct. As ...

About a week ago, the Connecticut Appellate Court addressed a very interesting question that I have to confess I had not thought about befor...

The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 468 – Facilitating the Sale of a L...

In case you are not familiar with Saul Goodman, here is his website .  Check it out.  My favorite ad is the one called "Sue 'e...

Some time ago I asked whether it was likely that attorneys could be replaced by machines or computer programs.  Here is another post (with...

The Legal Profession blog is reporting on a recent report and recommendation by the Illinois Review Board.  In a nutshell, the recommendati...

The Legal Ethics Forum has a story on (and link to) a recent report that concluded the disciplinary system in Wisconsin is inadequate in a ...

A few days ago I reported that the Supreme Court of California rejected a proposal to adopt new rules based on the ABA Model Rules.  Here ar...

Does anyone know if this ad is real or is it a parody?  If you can't see the video below, you can watch the video here . UPDATE (1...

In May of last year I criticized a decision by a Louisiana Hearing Committee recommending a reprimand for an attorney based on the fact that...

As I reported earlier today, the California Supreme Court has decided not to adopt a proposal for new rules of professional conduct.  Kafkae...

Very surprising!  Sounds like California wants to be the only state that does not follow the ABA Model Rules.  Go here for the story.

In a recent opinion, the Texas bar's ethics committee found that a law firm must stop representing a litigation client if it hires a law...

Need I say more?  The story is here .  It sounds like this was not a case of a judge being irresponsible, but of inability to control alcoho...

The Illinois Supreme Court heard an interesting oral argument today involving an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel based on th...

Lawyers are often asked by clients to review contracts prepared by others.  However, because this type of task is something for which you do...

As you probably remember, in Connick v. Thompson and in Smith v. Cain the US Supreme Court was faced with allegations of misconduct by the...

The Legal Profession blog has a story here .  In short, the South Dakota Special Committee on Judicial Ethics Campaign Intervention has issu...

As you know, the Model Rules were amended recently to recognize that an element of competence is knowledge about "technology" whic...

As you probably know, it is not uncommon for convicted criminal defendants to challenge their convictions alleging that their lawyers did no...

In a case called Dwyer v. Cappell, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has found that a certain rule adopted in New Jersey to ban att...

As many of you know, I keep a list of recommended movies for lawyers and law students.  It does not includes all the law related movies out...

As you probably know, there are a number of decisions out there addressing the issue of whether Legal Zoom engages in "unauthorized pra...