MyShingle Comments on Proposed Model Rule 5.3 and Last Chance to File Comments on ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20!

Below is my final set of comments on the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20’s proposals.  My comments address the Commission’s proposal to subject lawyers to the same level of supervisory oversight for passive cloud services as for human, non-legal service providers. For reasons discussed in this post, I strongly oppose any additional requirements which pose…

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FREE Recording – Cold Calls for Lawyers!

Updated September 8, 2022 The post has been updated but you can still listen to my interview on cold calls here. As my regular readers may know, I’m one of the few lawyers who actively recommends cold calling as a tool for finding overflow work and referrals or simply setting up introductory meetings or lunch…

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Solos Don’t Need A Separate Education

By now, you’ve probably seen the New York Times article, What They Don’t Teach Law Students: Lawyering which like some digital version of Helen of Troy, launched a thousand (well, maybe several dozen) blogs — though as Scott Greenfield points out here, there’s lots of fire but no heat; for all of the complaints about…

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Invest in This…Or That?

You’ve heard the pitch; we all have. For just $10,000 — less than $1000 per month — you’ll get a specially designed, SEO-optimized, social-media enhanced website — and a couple of pay-per-leads as a bonus. Can’t afford it or don’t want to spend that much? No worries, the salesman assures you – and then, the…

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Proposed ABA Ethics 20/20 Rules Will Require Lawyers to Oversee and Monitor the Accuracy of LEXIS, Westlaw and Other Computerized Legal Research Services

As lawyers, we’re bound to abide by applicable statutes and precedent — yet most lawyers refuse to heed the law of unintended consequences. That’s the error committed by the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 with its most recent changes lto ABA Model Rule 5.3, Responsibilities Regarding Non Lawyer Assistance.  In its zeal to frustrate lawyers’…

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Should You Ever Play the Solo Card?

For solo and small firm lawyers who routinely battle big law, there’s often a temptation to play the solo card. In other words, to seek special dispensation from court rules and practices in light of solos’ more limited time and resources. Some lawyers believe that playing the solo card is justified as a way to…

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