Professional Responsibility Blog

Last August, Arizona became the first state to eliminate the ban on non-lawyer ownership of law firms.  See here , here and here .  This si...

Back in April, I reported that the New York State Bar Association Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct (“COSAC”) presented a proposed ...

Last week, the AP reported that the Texas State Bar of Texas is investigating the Attorney General Ken Paxton based on the argument that Pa...

 Over at The Law for Lawyers Today, Karen Rubin has published a short comment on the recent developments on whether it is ethical to practic...

Defense attorneys for former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao recently filed a motion arguing that the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s...

On May 6, 2021, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued an order revising the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct provisions governing lawyer...

The Florida Supreme Court recently approved an Advisory Opinion issued by the Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of...

In the last couple of years we have seen a number of challenges in different states to mandatory bar membership rules.  I have posted a few ...

Long time readers of this blog know that I have complained many times that not enough is done to combat prosecutorial misconduct.  This is t...

Can a lawyer pay a non-expert witness for time spent testifying at a deposition or a trial, preparing for such testimony, and other related ...

As I am sure you know by now, Utah and Arizona recently became the first two states to make changes to their regulatory structure to allow, ...

I often complain that judges do not do enough to discourage misconduct in litigation.  My complaint is usually related to stories on discove...

Two years ago, I published a short magazine article on whether it is ethical for a lawyer to secretly record a conversation with a client. (...

Back in March I reported that Florida Bar’s Professional Ethics Committee requested comments on a formal Ethics Advisory Opinion to provide ...

 Here is some advice on how not to prepare a retainer agreement by Carolyn Elefant of MyShingle .

 Leaving your firm?  My friend Michael Kennedy has some advice for you on what not to do here .

Yesterday I commented on Sidney Powell's recent reply to a motion for sanctions for her complaint related the presidential election resu...

About two weeks ago I reported that Wisconsin filed a motion seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees from Donald Trump a...

One recurring story last year was the number of lawsuits filed throughout the country challenging the authority of states to mandate members...

On the same day that the New York State Bar Association Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct submitted a proposal to adopt a rule akin...

As I am sure you know, I have been writing about Model Rule 8.4(g) since way back when it was first proposed.  See here . Over time, I have ...

 As you probably know, last year Utah and Arizona adopted new rules to fundamentally change the way the practice of law is regulated, includ...

In case you don't remember, Sidney Powell is the former lawyer for the Trump campaign who at one time promised to "release the Krak...

Wisconsin is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees from Donald Trump and Sidney Powell for their attempts to overturn ...

 NPR has published a short article on threats to the attorney-client privilege by surveillance of by prison authorities.  The article is ava...

 Back in November of 2019 I reported that Georgia became the 38th state to adopt the Model Rules proposition that the duty of competence mus...

 A few days ago I reported that the era of non-lawyer owned firms is here, now that Arizona and Utah have approved some version of such an ...

February 14, 2021   (updates at the end) Last week, the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued a new Form...

March 13, 2021 The ABA Journal is reporting that a Florida lawyer is facing an ethics complaint for describing himself as a pit bull lawyer...

 March 16, 2021  (update, below) Back in December, a federal district court declared unconstitutional Pennsylvania's version of ABA Mod...

 As I am sure you know by now, Utah and Arizona recently became the first two states to make changes to their regulatory structure of the pr...

Many lawyers and recent law school graduates believe they would benefit from mental health or substance abuse treatment but do not seek help...

Earlier this week in a case called Karton v. Ari Design & Construction, Inc ., the California Court of Appeal decided that a court can d...

Benjamin Cardozo is better known to my students as the New York Court of Appeals judge who wrote Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad , which de...

NPR has a long story that reminded me of the "hot potato doctrine."  In case you don't remember, this is the doctrine that say...

 The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has been busy issuing formal ethics opinions recently.  Formal Opinion...

 Wisconsin Advisory Opinion offers cybersecurity tips on working remotely.  Ethical Grounds has the full story here .

Late last year, the New Jersey state supreme court held that law firms that want to include mandatory arbitration provisions in their client...

 About a week ago, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association issued a joint ethics opinion on whether a lawyer ...

Here is a little piece of advice: don’t ask your paralegal to lie for you, particularly to cover your mistakes.   Common sense, right? Appar...

About a month ago I read a short article about two things happening in California related to the appearance of bias in the state's disc...

 Here is a link to a short article on how disciplinary agencies are likely to handle complaints about lawyers who supported Trump or repres...

 Long time readers of this blog might remember that I have been following the many lawsuits filed around the country alleging that mandatory...

Law & Crime is reporting that a Washington DC lawyer has filed complaints before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Office of Di...

Ten days ago, a judge in Missouri found that the state’s practice of putting poor criminal defendants on a waiting list to be appointed a pu...

NPR is reporting that "[n]ewly disclosed documents from inside the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan capture a sense of panic and...

February 7, 2021 Law & Crime is reporting that a lawyer who joined Sidney Powell‘s so-called “Kraken” lawsuit in Michigan is now attempt...

Yesterday I posted a link to a review of the briefs filed in Trump's upcoming impeachment trial.  See here .  Today, the New York Times ...

Over at Verdict, Professor Dean Falvy (University of Washington School of Law) has published a very detailed review of the briefs filed by b...

Need I say more?   This actually happened.  Here is the story:  Above the Law and  Law & Crime  have more details.

 Back in September of 2020 I posted a few comments and links on the recent regulatory changes in Arizona and Utah which opened the possibili...

As I am sure you know by now, the five lawyers who had originally agreed to represent Trump in his upcoming impeachment trial quit over the ...

Trump has announced a new team of two attorneys who will represent him in the impeachment trial after his original team quit on him over the...

 Last week the Freedman Institute of Legal Ethics (at Hofstra Law School) hosted an excellent panel discussion (on Zoom) on whether it is a ...

February 1, 2021 As you know, the "Kraken team" of lawyers for the Trump campaign is facing possible procedural sanctions in a cas...

The different Trump teams of lawyers are the gift that keeps on giving.   In yet another interesting twist, in response to a motion asking f...

 January 30, 2021 Just days before his impeachment trial is set to begin, Donald Trump's entire new legal team has withdrawn from his re...

 Long time readers of this blog know that I often complain that judges do not do enough to sanction attorneys who misbehave during the proce...

January 25, 2021  (updated, at the end) A Texas lawyer who was fired from his in-house counsel job after it was determined that he recorded ...

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended a Nashville attorney after discovering that he posted advice on Facebook about how to make deadly ...