Category: Legal Ethics

Categories : Law Practice Legal EthicsTags :

Ethics in Brief: The “Snitch Rule” is now the Law, Under the Rules of Professional Conduct

On By krobinson

By Michael J. Crowley

Blame it on former torts megastar Tom Girardi and his confederates, coupled with his wife, Erika Jayne, star of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Girardi’s alleged theft of millions from clients’ trust accounts led to adverse publicity, and a push from the California legislature which led to action by the State Bar instituting the so-called “snitch rule.” Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3. We all suffer due to the actions of a few. Read More

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 : Legal EthicsTags :

Ethics in Brief: Ethical Pitfalls Arise When Pursuing a Client Agreement that Impedes a State Bar Investigation

On By krobinson

By Alara Chilton

When a client files or threatens to file a State Bar complaint alleging a lawyer’s ethical misconduct, a lawyer may be tempted to impede a State Bar investigation by seeking to negotiate an agreement that shields the lawyer from the State Bar’s ability to investigate and prosecute a lawyer’s ethical misconduct.  Such agreements are intended to ensure a client’s or former client’s silence regarding the alleged misconduct. However, a lawyer’s efforts to enter into such an agreement may run afoul of Business and Professions Code section 6090.5.  Read More

Categories : Legal EthicsTags :

Ethics in Brief: Caputo – A Cautionary Tale with Costly Consequences

On By krobinson

By Valerie Silverman Massey 

Scenario: As a senior or supervising attorney, you are preparing to file a document with a court. A more junior attorney prepares the document using prior office writings/research or conducting new research and preparing the document from scratch. Your name is on the caption and the signature line.  Read More

Categories : Legal EthicsTags :

Ethics in Brief: The First Amendment on Trial in State Bar Court

On By krobinson

By David C. Carr

Introduction

The First Amendment guarantees free speech, which is one of our most cherished freedoms. Yet, as we all know, it is not absolute. Recently, the First Amendment has played a more significant role in the jurisprudence of lawyer discipline. Lawyers, after all, are speech warriors. Fueled by new and more effective modes of communication and the breakdown in norms of restraint, First Amendment issues are coming to the surface more often in State Bar Court. This leads to different results as the nuances of the First Amendment collide with the professional obligations of the lawyers. This edition of “Ethics in Brief” briefly examines three recent decisions of the State Bar Court where the First Amendment was raised as a defense. Read More

Categories : For New Attorneys For the Record Legal EthicsTags :

The Importance of Client Communications – Tips for Young Attorneys   

On By krobinson

Ethics for New Lawyers 

The Importance of Client Communications – Tips for Young Attorneys   

By Michael L. Crowley
Crowley Law Group

Inadequate client communication is typically one of the top complaints to the State Bar every year. This is unfortunate because keeping clients informed of developments in the representation is one aspect of the practice of law we can actually control.   Read More

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Application of CRPC 1.15 to Government Lawyers

On By sdcountybar

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?” Read More