Happy August, New Lawyer Division members! I hope you are having a great summer so far. As Co-Editor in Chief of For the Record, I want to thank you for reading and your continued support of our publication.
Imagine this: You are a civil attorney, and your client finally receives a favorable ruling on a hard-fought motion in state court. You excitedly call your client and celebrate with your colleagues. You relax your shoulders knowing all is well, at least for the day.
The American Bar Association (ABA) recently published an ethics opinion addressing the use of listservs to seek assistance regarding a legal issue on behalf of a client.i While some have pondered why the ABA would choose to address this antiquated modality in 2024, the rationale behind the opinion is nonetheless useful when assessing the application of Rule 1.6 (client confidentiality) to more current modes and methods of communication for seeking assistance on behalf of a client. (CA Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6.)
By Katie Parker
During a Zoom hearing last week in federal court in the Northern District of California, the judge blasted statements by one team of attorneys as “certainly at risk of being misleading” and described the tactics used as “pretty low-grade lawyering.” Bonnie Eslinger, ‘Low-Grade Lawyering’: Quinn Emanual Attys Draw Judge’s Ire, Law360.com (July 27, 2024, 12:01 AM), https://www.law360.com/articles/1862818. The court directed further inquiry into the falsity of the attorneys’ statements in order to determine whether to impose sanctions. At issue is what information an expert witness had received and when he had received it for purposes of determining whether a supplemental expert report was appropriate. Regardless of whether sanctions are ultimately imposed in that case, public rebukes like these are a stark reminder of our “duty of candor to the tribunal” and a good opportunity to brush up on some of the rule’s nuances.
By: Marta Manus
There is no such thing as work/life balance. We must create balance within. In our fast-paced world, the way we manage our actions, time, and energy profoundly impacts our sense of balance. Every action we take—whether deliberate or unintentional—can either contribute to a balanced life or lead us further away from it. The further away we get from balance, the more likely we are to burnout. Burnout is partly caused by an imbalance in our energetic state of being, experienced by feelings of extreme overwhelm, exhaustion, and disillusionment. When we go through our days working on things that are misaligned with our core values, we can fall out of the inner balance. Balancing life requires more than just checking off tasks; it involves a conscious effort to align actions with our values and goals.
By Adriana Linares
Hi everyone, welcome to another Tech Tip in a 10th. I’m Adriana Linares. I’m the San Diego County Bar Association’s Technology and Practice Management Advisor. As a reminder, if you have any questions about technology, practice management, your website, launching your law firm, running your successful law firm – from the technology and practice management side – if you have any questions like that and would like some help from me, appointments are free for members! You can always go to scba.org/techappointment to do that.
By Anne Rudolph
Rule 1.15, titled “Safekeeping Funds and Property of Clients and Other Persons” directs in paragraph (a) that all funds received or held by a lawyer or law firm for the benefit of a client … including advances for fees, costs and expenses, shall be deposited in a client trust account.
The New Lawyer Division (NLD) had the privilege of collaborating with the Intellectual Property and Civil Litigation Sections to host the “Say Hello to Summer” social networking event. At the event, Taneashia Morrell, Board of Director, Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Division and the Immediate-Past Chair of the Intellectual Property Section, said a few things about collaboration that really stuck with me. She said just like it costs you nothing to be kind to others, it costs nothing to collaborate with others. It reminded me that one of the biggest lessons I learned during my time with the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA) is that collaboration is a key reason why NLD and the SDCBA are successful.
Michelle Mitchell is a San Diego-based Trial Attorney at Portfolio Recovery Associates with over 20 years of experience in civil litigation. As a trial attorney, she values the importance of weaving evidence into a story as part of the litigation process, providing a wide range of valuable assets to high-level exposure cases from start to finish.
Oddly enough, many lawyers forget this very important point somewhere along the way of working on a matter and it can get them into a lot of hot water. It is so important to the practice of law that it is the second of the Rules of Professional Conduct [1](“RPC”) and it requires the practitioner to define the scope of a lawyer’s representation and the allocation of an attorney’s authority to act on behalf of a client.
