Legal Ethics for New Lawyers: Do Not Be Drawn Into Criminal Activity: Guidance from ABA Formal Opinion 513
By Edward J. McIntyre
The last thing a lawyer wants to learn is that the lawyer has been providing legal services to a client who has used those services to commit fraud or a crime. No lawyer wants to have to deal with a grand jury subpoena, or have a couple of FBI agents on the doorstep. At the same time, we all need clients with problems who come to us looking for solutions.Read More
By Lin Nguyen California Western School of Law Class of ‘25
Growing up in Bakersfield, California, Judge Eugenia Eyherabide’s interest in the law was sparked during her time working at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office between finishing her undergraduate career and starting law school. During her work breaks, she would watch cases unfold in the courtroom. It was then that she knew she wanted to become an attorney.
Judge Eyherabide attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. After taking a year off to work at the DA’s Office, she went on to attend Santa Clara University School of Law. She fondly recalls her time in law school, particularly enjoying her constitutional law and criminal law courses.Read More
By Lillian Glenister, Esq. Judicial Law Clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
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. Read More
What to do After Receiving a Civil Notice of Appeal
By Megan McDonald Lewis Brisbois
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.Read More
Legal Ethics for New Lawyers: Client Confidentiality and Listservs: How Much Can You Say to Obtain Professional Assistance?
By Valerie Silverman Massey Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Diego – Ethics & Compliance Unit
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.) Read More
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. Read More
By Sasha Jamishidi Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP
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. Read More
Ethics for New Lawyers: Who is my client? The Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Under RPC 1.2
By Deborah A. Wolfe
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. Read More
Networking in San Diego: Tips for New and Aspiring Lawyers
By Catharine McGlynn Wilshire Law Firm, PLC
In the first few years of practicing law, it is easy to focus solely on the hard skills associated with this profession. For most new lawyers, it is essential to focus on developing strong research and writing skills that will serve as a foundation from which to grow. The first few years are an endurance race—for each new task, a new lawyer must spend time learning the facts of the case, the law, the procedure, or the firm’s methods. Only then, can the new lawyer move on to actually completing the task. The learning often takes just as much time as the doing. Of course, you cannot bill the client for the hours you spend learning, so the days stretch well into the evenings. With schedules dictated by looming deadlines, it is often difficult to imagine voluntarily adding any more work to your plate. Many young lawyers are so focused on building the hard skills that they lose out on incorporating soft skills into their legal foundation. Soft skills are not the focus of law school or the bar exam, so they may not get the attention they deserve, but those who devote time and energy to developing those skills early have an advantage. Whether it is client management, communication, teamwork, or networking, soft skills make you a better lawyer. At work, many of these soft skills are reserved for the supervising attorneys, but networking is beneficial and accessible to all attorneys. Read More
