Ethics & Malpractice Issues

Thanks to all who participated in today’s ABA Ethics 20/20 call. We had a decent turn out, including a member of the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission. As promised (especially for those who called in late due to my time zone error), here’s the recording of the call and the Power Point presentation. The recording is…

Just a reminder that the MyShingle Briefing and Hearing on ABA Ethics 2020 Commission Initiatives on Cloud Computing and Lawyer Use of social media is this Thursday, November 4, 2010, 2:30 pm central. To register, click here and you’ll receive the dial-in information. The ABA’s rules are critical as they will impact us as solos,…

On October 14, 2010, the ABA Ethics 2020 Commission held a public hearing on two proposed whitepapers, one dealing with cloud computing, the other with lawyers’ use of internet tools, primarily social media, for marketing.  [update] I wish to emphasize that the Whitepapers themselves reflect a substantial amount of research and fairly identify or evaluate…

Tomorrow, the ABA will post its ethic Opinion 10-457 (August 5, 2010) on ethics issues related to lawyers use of websites.  OK, so the decision comes a good fifteen years after lawyers, myself included, first started using the web, but better late than never, I suppose.  In any event, the opinion was circulated this afternoon…

Update, 9/23/2010 :  Please review the comments from one of the Ethics 2020 reporters.  Seems that I was not sufficiently precise in describing the Commission’s activities to date, so let me clarify.  The Commission has, at this point, released issues papers, nothing more.  It hasn’t proposed rules (as I implied) or taken a position on…

(Note: Originally published online at Complete Lawyer, July 2008) Most law students and lawyers know quite a bit about finding a job—how to write a compelling cover letter and an attention-grabbing resume, how to navigate tricky interview questions and how to make contacts who can help with the job search. With all the time we…

Back in 2004, now my departed-from-the-blogosphere friend David Giacalone predicted that Ghostblogging Will Kill the Blogosphere.  In a thoughtful post that considered the issue from all sides, David criticized the ethics of ghost blogging and lamented that that mass produced, ghostblogs would be “devoid of the spark of life that has put magic into this way…

Solo practice can be a risky business.  Even a three month suspension by a Grievance Committee wreaks damage far beyond the duration of the penalty.  Once suspended, solos must inform clients of their status and pass their files on to colleagues.  They cannot market and they cannot work on legal matters for other lawyers.  When…