Categories : Legal Ethics
Pervasive Incivility is a Negative Multiplier in Fee Calculations
By Khodadad “Ko” Sharif
Incivility may hit a litigant’s pocketbook.
Categories : Law Practice Management Law+Tech
Understanding Microsoft Subscription Plans: A Guide for Legal Professionals
In this series of tips, we will explore how Microsoft 365 can help law firms be more efficient, secure, and efficient. Your firm’s software and service subscriptions are a valuable business resource that you should understand, just like your firm’s operating and trust accounts. To start, you need to know what kind of account you and/or your firm have; we covered that topic in a previous post. In this post, we will discuss your options for subscription plans to Microsoft 365.
Categories : Wellness
The Power of Making Clear Agreements
By Megan M. Moore, Leadership & Career Advancement Coach
Categories : Legal Ethics
Application of CRPC 1.15 to Government Lawyers
By Khodadad “Ko” Sharif
Does California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.15, entitled “Safekeeping Funds and Property of Clients and Other Persons,” govern government agencies that are holding funds for third parties in a civil forfeiture proceeding? More specifically, should cash received or held in civil forfeiture proceedings by the Office of the District Attorney be deposited in one or more identifiable bank accounts labeled “Trust Account?”
Categories : Wellness
Mindful Minute: Take A Breath….
By Jim Eischen, Co-Chair, San Diego County Bar Association Wellness Committee
Categories : Legal Ethics
Recent Decision Confirms Importance of Ensuring Preservation of Evidence
By Andrew Servias
In a lawsuit against a School District involving a sexual assault, a video potentially relevant to the litigation was not preserved by the defendant. As a result, the plaintiff sought terminating sanctions. The trial court granted evidentiary, issue, and monetary sanctions, but refused terminating sanctions relying on an exception in Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030 (f)(1) which provides that:
Categories : Legal Ethics
A Moonlighting Gig
Ethical Issues “On the Side” Employment Raises
Categories : Legal Ethics
The California Rules of Professional Conduct: An Overview; Rule Changes in 2023; and Prognostications for 2024
By Charles Berwanger
The all-important Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to guide our lives as attorneys, and in some instances our personal lives, and with this new year it behooves all of us to re-familiarize ourselves with the Rules. The purposes of the Rules are to “protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession, protect the integrity of the legal system; and promote the administration of justice and confidence in the legal profession.” Rule 1.10. It continues that “the Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to establish the standards for lawyers for purposes of discipline….Therefore, failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by Rule is a basis for invoking the disciplinary process.”
Please Stop Asking This Question
By Tatiana Kline
“When are you going to have children?” It seems like an innocent question. But for many, the thought of answering the question drums up anxiety, stress, insecurities, and maybe even grief.
Categories : Legal Ethics
Technology and Generative AI
The State Bar Acts to Impose on Attorneys Guidance for the Use of Generative AI and Future Continuing Education Requirements Regarding Technology in the Practice of Law
By Charles Berwanger
A December 6, 2023 New York Times’ edition’s first page’s headline announced “Nations Losing Race to Control Dangers of A. I.” The article continues with an internal headline: “Losing The Race to Control A. I.’s Perils – Alarmed by the power of artificial intelligence, Europe, the United States and others are trying to respond – but the technology is evolving more rapidly than their policies.” The article explains that “‘no one, not even the creators of these systems, know what they will be able to do,’ said Matt Clifford, an adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain, who presided over an A. I. Safety Summit last month with 28 countries. ‘The urgency comes from there being a real question of whether governments are equipped to deal with and mitigate the risks.’