Professional Responsibility Blog

As I am sure you know by now, the comment to ABA Model Rule 1.1 on the duty of competence states that there is a duty to understand the ...

A few days ago I posted some links with information and comments about the TV series Better Call Saul ( see here ).   Now here is a podcast...

A few days ago I posted a note about developments in Washington state's program to allow certified paralegals to provide certain limite...

Puerto Rico adopted its current Code of Ethics in 1970, but its content is essentially a copy of the  ABA Canons of 1908, with a few changes...

As you know by now, I am sure, the comment to Model Rule 1.1 on competence has been amended to state that the duty of competence includes th...

Back in 2012, I reported on a case from Washington DC called In re Kline in which the U.S. Justice Department and the D.C. Office of Bar ...

The Legal Profession blog is reporting on a case from Iowa in which the Supreme Court refused to adopt a recommended sanction because accor...

There are many cases out there discussing what constitutes improper conduct during depositions.  Many of them discuss conduct that any litig...

"Many attorneys have experienced situations in which a client has sought advice about proposed actions which “push the legal limit” or...

The ABA Journal is reporting today that a New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a lawyer can’t continue to represent a medical malpracti...

As I am sure you know by now, a few days ago a police officer shot and killed an unarmed man who ran away from the officer after being stopp...

For those of you who enjoyed (or just watched) the TV series Better Call Saul, here are a few links. The Legal Ethics of Better Call Saul ...

While some jurisdictions are debating issues related on how to practice law, one of the more interesting debates that will likely become a ...

The Legal Ethics Forum is reporting that Massachusetts has adopted a number of changes to the state's Rules of Professional Conduct most...

When can you contact people who are or were represented by counsel? The New York Legal Ethics Reporter has a good review of the doctrine her...

I just read a recent story about about the suspension of a prominent capital defense attorneys by Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals for filin...

The Legal Profession blog is reporting that a Virginia lawyer has been been suspended for six months and ordered to enroll in a two-year tre...

Can a lawyer lie during negotiations?  The Comment to Model Rule 4.1 (Truthfulness in statements to others) states that the duty not to mak...

Last month I wrote about the cert petition in Truvia v. Connick , the most recent in a series of cases from New Orleans on whether an exoner...

Last month I posted a comment on a recent Illinois case on whether an attorney has a duty to disclose the death of his client when the atto...

Anyone who knows me knows I like to watch legal themed movies and TV shows (and read novels too).  I have written reviews of some of those s...

Talk about timing!  Tomorrow morning I am leaving town to go speak at a conference in Puerto Rico on the future of the regulation of the pro...

Long time readers of this blog know how much I have argued over time that courts do not do enough to discourage misconduct on the part of pr...

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...