Categories : Legal Ethics
When Zealous Advocacy Goes Too Far
By Irean Z. Swan
The idea of zealous advocacy is not a foreign concept to an attorney. In fact, the preamble to the Model Rules provides that “[a]s advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system.” But when does zealous advocacy exceed the bounds of the law and cross the line into actionable conduct such as extortion? The Second District Court of Appeal recently examined this question again in the case of Geragos v. Abelyan (2023) 88 Cal.App.5th 1005.