Month: May 2024

Categories : Legal EthicsTags :

Ethics in Brief: How to be Civil — State and Federal Codes of Conduct Provide Guidance

On By krobinson

By Katie Parker

As noted in a recent Ethics in Brief column (here), an attorney’s persistent lack of civility can have concrete financial consequences. In the case at issue there, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s reliance on lack of civility in reducing an attorney’s fee award. The Court observed that plaintiff’s counsel’s “beratement of opposing counsel and belittling of the trial court were unnecessary to advocate zealously” on his client’s behalf. Snoeck v. ExakTime Innovations, Inc., 96 Cal. App. 5th 908, 925 (2023). Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

Ethics for New Lawyers: Ethics and the Potential New Client: Recent Developments in Protecting Your Firm from Disqualification

On By krobinson

Ethics for New Lawyers: Ethics and the Potential New Client: Recent Developments in Protecting Your Firm from Disqualification

By Charles V. Berwanger
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

The purpose of this article is to highlight Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18 and its provisions regarding a lawyer’s communications with a prospective client, the risks and consequences of disclosing confidential information with resultant disqualification of an attorney, and the means available to prevent the disqualification of that attorney’s firm if the would-be client does not retain the lawyer or law firm. Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

Message from the Social Chair 

On By krobinson

Message from the Social Chair 

By Matthew Spolsky
Clark Hill, LLP

Hello all and hope your May 2024 has started strong. My name is Matthew Spolsky, and I am the Social Chair of NLD. Earlier this month it was Well-Being Week in Law, I hope you were all able to get out of the office in some meaningful way to de-stress. If not, now’s the time to get some nice spring weather before the heat comes!  Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

From the Tortured Solo Department: Tips for Success in Your Law Practice

On By krobinson

From the Tortured Solo Department: Tips for Success in Your Law Practice

By James D. Crosby

For most of my 40 years as a lawyer, I have worked in solo or small firm settings. I have run my own civil litigation and trial practice with various configurations of staff, contract attorneys, and associate attorneys. Today, my busy trial practice consists of me, an associate attorney, and a paralegal/office manager. And I love it.  Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

Attorney Wellness as an Antidote to Incivility in the Legal Profession

On By krobinson

Attorney Wellness as an Antidote to Incivility in the Legal Profession

By Christopher Nichols
Nevels Nichols, LLP

On May 8, 2024, in honor of Well-Being Week in Law, the California Lawyers Association and California Judges Association jointly hosted a Webinar entitled, Health and Wellness in California Law: The Effect of Civility in the Practice and from the Bench. The program was moderated by Betty Williams, President of the California Lawyers Association, and Hon. Kevin S. Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and it focused on the connection between civility and attorney well-being.  Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

NLD Member Spotlight: Audrey Surridge

On By krobinson

NLD Member Spotlight: Audrey Surridge

By Lillian Glenister, Esq.
Judicial Law Clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

The San Diego County Bar Association recently awarded Audrey Surridge with its Service by a New Lawyer Award at its Annual Awards Ceremony and Celebration of Community Service on May 14, 2024.  Sworn into the California Bar in 2017, Audrey is a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law and is an attorney at Fisher Phillips LLP.  Audrey represents companies in a variety of employment disputes, conducts workplace investigations, and counsels her clients in developing effective policies and practices. Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

Tips from the Bar: Carree Nahama, Esq.

On By krobinson

Tips from the Bar: Carree Nahama, Esq.

By Sasha Jamshidi
Bremer Whyte Brown &
O’Meara, LLP

Meet Carree Nahama, Esq.

Ever since the 6th grade, Carree Nahama always wanted to be a lawyer. Ms. Nahama became the first in her family to attend and graduate from law school. While she had an initial interest in corporate law, she ultimately was drawn to civil litigation, specifically personal injury work. After interning at the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit (CEPU) at the San Diego City Attorney’s office during law school, Ms. Nahama realized that “Torts had become [her] world.” Her experience at CEPU reinforced her interest in consumer rights litigation and eventually led her to start her own personal injury firm, Nahama Law. She has enjoyed a successful nine-year practice at Nahama Law, where she focuses one hundred percent (100%) on personal injury work involving car accidents, dog bites, civil rights, premise liability, brain injuries, injuries to children, and trucking accidents. Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the RecordTags :

Community Service Reflection: Annual Free Books for Children Event

On By krobinson

Community Service Reflection: Annual Free Books for Children Event

By Shubhra Sharma
Global Legal Law Firm

As the Community Outreach Co-Chair for the San Diego County Bar Association’s New Lawyer Division (NLD), I am thrilled to share with you the heartwarming success of the recent annual Free Books for Children event held at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion on April 27, 2024.  This event, organized in collaboration with Roosevelt Brown — a dedicated advocate for literacy — has been instrumental in our community for the past 40 years. Read More

Categories : Law+Tech Technology

Tech Talk: Microsoft Word – Advanced Editing Tips for Pasting Text

On By krobinson

Cutting and pasting is a simple task. Perhaps so simple and effective that most users never ask, “Could there be more?” With a few keystrokes, you can easily repurpose text from one place to another. It’s such a common and old function that it’s probably one of the few keyboard shortcuts known by the least proficient Word-users: CTRL + X cuts, CTRL + C copies, and CTRL + V pastes. But could there be more? I’m so glad you asked because, yes yes, there is so much more. You have OPTIONS, and they can work wonders in helping you insert text more efficiently and prevent you from getting into a formatting fight with Word. Read More

Categories : Law Practice Law Practice Management

DEI Drop: An Immigrant Story

On By krobinson

By Bhashini Weerasinghe

As we rapidly approach the upcoming election and brace for the inevitable and continued onslaught of campaign attacks on some of the most vulnerable populations, I cannot help but think about my own immigrant story. I was seven years old when my dad told us that he was going to go to the United States to get things situated before we would all join him in about a year. I remember the party we had on his last day in Sri Lanka and the ride to the airport to drop him off. I also remember waking up the next day and wanting to see my dad and having my mom tell me that dad is on a flight. She pulled out a globe to show me that dad is flying across the world. I remember asking if we could take the train to meet him. My seven-year-old brain was struggling to understand what an ocean was and why we could not see dad. I remember that year, I had many phone chats with my dad — but that meant, we get word that dad is trying to call, and we all would head to the town where there was a clothing store that had a phone and wait for him to call back. In Sri Lanka, we didn’t have our own phone — no one did. This was before cell phones were a thing, and before you could Facetime with your loved ones.   Read More