New Rules of Professional Conduct The California Supreme Court Has Acted

By Edward McIntyre

By an order filed May 10, 2018, the California Supreme Court changed California’s legal ethics landscape.

The Court approved, without change, 27 of the comprehensive set of 70 proposed new or amended Rules of Professional Conduct that the Commission on the Revision of the Rules and the Board of Trustees had recommended for adoption. The Court also approved with minor modification another 42, and denied approval of only one of the 70 rules submitted. The new rules become effective November 1, 2018.

Many of the changes are based on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, in effect in almost every other jurisdiction in the United States — thus making California’s professional responsibility standards more uniform with national practice.

The changes will be significant for California lawyers, touching almost every area of practice including fees (what must be deposited into a trust account and returned to the client at the end of the representation); litigation practice (including fairness to the opposing party and the duty not unduly to delay litigation); candor to the tribunal (with the obligation even after the fact to correct a false statement of fact or law); the responsibility of supervising lawyers (with possible vicarious liability); prohibiting discrimination, harassment or retaliation in the practice of law; sexual relations with clients (not allowed unless the client is a spouse or domestic partner, or the sexual relationship predated the lawyer-client relationship); inadvertently transmitted confidential information (the ethical duty adopted in Rico v. Mitsubishi, now a rule of professional conduct, subjecting a lawyer to discipline); and many others.

In upcoming issues, San Diego Lawyer will provide detailed analysis of the most significant rule changes.

Edward McIntyre is an attorney at law and co-editor of San Diego Lawyer.

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2018 issue of San Diego Lawyer.