By Michael L. Crowley
Nary a week goes by without your author being asked how long we have to keep our files in storage. I would like to be able to give you a definitive answer, but there isn’t one. The state bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC), however, is venturing into the area and you are likely not going to like it.
By David C. Carr
Independence is often referred to as one of the core values of the legal profession. This value is reflected in American Bar Association Model Rule 5.4, entitled “Professional Independence of A Lawyer.” Model Rule 5.4(a) provides that a “lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a non-lawyer …” with some narrow exceptions. Model Rule 5.4(b) forbids a lawyer from forming a partnership with a non-lawyer “if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.” Subsection (c) of the Model Rule states that a “lawyer shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays the lawyer to render legal services for another to direct or regulate the lawyer’s professional judgment in rendering such legal services.” Finally, Model Rule 5.4(d) says that a lawyer may not practice in the form of a professional corporation or other association if a non-lawyer holds any interest in the entity, is a director or similar member of the control group, or otherwise has the right to control the professional judgment of the lawyer. The rationale is that non-lawyers, unbound by the lawyer’s professional obligations, may make decisions that are not in the clients’ best interest in the name of more profit for the business entity.
By Marta Manus, Leadership Coach and Workplace Culture Consultant
By Amy J. Lepine
This single line from Desiderata expresses the basic reason I practice at wellness. The habits that we cultivate in our lives, whether consciously or not, are very powerful. Most often, we are not aware of the patterns of the mind. We’ve developed shortcuts for our perception that rob us of the true import of the moment. But in the same way, developing positive habits that bring us back to the present moment can erase those tendencies and bring us closer to reality, and wellbeing.
By Anne M. Rudolph
The business of being a lawyer is not unlike other businesses in the sense that we rely on satisfied customers (clients) to establish, build and maintain a successful practice. Word of mouth and recommendations are an integral part of that process. In the modern age, online review sites have become ubiquitous. Avvo, Google, Martindale-Hubbell, and Yelp, are some of the most well-known on which someone can post a review of a lawyer’s services.
Hello all:
My name is Hannah Theophil, and I am honored to serve on the New Lawyer Division’s Executive Committee where I help organize networking and social events for new lawyers in the greater San Diego area. I graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 2019 and moved from Boston to San Diego shortly thereafter to begin practicing law. I am in my second year of practice.
By Marta Manus and Megan M. Moore
Personal Perspectives
By Shelly Skinner
California’s legal ethics rules are designed to protect the public and the integrity of the legal system, while promoting the administration of justice and confidence in the legal profession. Cal. Rule of Prof. Conduct 1.0. Attorney candor is crucial to achieving these aims. While the legal ethics rules set forth many aspects of the duty of candor, this article will focus on the duty to communicate settlement offers in civil matters.
Feb. 24, 2022: Millions across the world watched in horror as Russia invaded Ukraine. A war that, to date, has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and a mass exodus from Ukraine seeking safe haven.
By Mallory H. Chase
Although nonlawyers are not directly governed by the California Rules of Professional Conduct (see CRPC, rule 1.0(a) [the “rules are intended to regulate professional conduct of lawyers through discipline”] [emphasis added]), rule 8.4 provides that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “violate these rules or the State Bar Act, knowingly* assist, solicit, or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another[.]”[1] (CRPC, rule 8.4(a).) Additionally, under CRPC, rule 5.3, managerial and supervisory lawyers must make reasonable efforts to ensure the conduct of nonlawyers who are employed by, retained by, or associated with the lawyer is compatible with lawyer’s professional obligations. Among those professional obligations is the prohibition on certain types of solicitations, as delineated in CRPC, rule 7.3.[2]
