Author: San Diego County Bar Association
At the San Diego County Bar Association’s judicial reception last week, I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with a lot of my favorite colleagues in our legal community, as well as to meet some new faces. Some who particularly impressed me were several first-year law students. They not only attended the event, but also significantly engaged with other guests. When I was a law student, that gregarious approach with members of the bar was not in my nature. Maybe, back then, I felt it was too hard to find common ground, or maybe I just did not then realize the importance of it. But the concept of this being a profession that is most effectively practiced by those with strong, established relationships is one that has been reinforced seemingly every day of my career. Read More
By Anne M. Rudolph
In 2018, the Supreme Court rejected a proposed modified version of Model Rule 1.14 which would have allowed an attorney to take protective action if the attorney reasonably believed that the client had diminished capacity, was unable to act in the client’s own interest, and was at significant risk of physical, psychological or financial harm. Though the Supreme Court did not state its reason for the rejection, it is understood that the proposed rule was rejected because taking such protective action would have required an attorney to disclose a client’s confidential information in contradiction of the attorney’s duty under Business and Professions Code 6068, subdivision (e). Read More
By Phillip Stephan
Pause. As attorneys, we are inherently attuned to the power of words. We seek to use them to persuade, to disarm, to indicate, and for other functions related to our practices. More than a few practitioners in our legal community have a way with words. The main goal of the words in this article is to persuade you to embrace the absence of words: not silence, but rather active listening, sincere consideration, and creating the space for dialogue by ensuring your partner in conversation has finished their thoughts and felt heard. Read More
When I first began volunteering as a temporary judge, my mother-in-law asked me how often I got to use the “little hammer.” I correctly concluded that she was referring to a gavel, and probably had in her mind something that was a different size than what I held in a picture that recently appeared on the cover of San Diego Lawyer. When I responded, my mother-in-law was visibly aghast to learn that not only did I not use one at all, but that I also could not recall seeing one in the courtrooms I had appeared in across the state. That conversation perhaps reflects one of the challenges faced by members of our bench: a misperception about what a judge’s role is and should be. Read More
Yesterday marked the anniversary of my sister entering the world — happy birthday again, Michelle — and the first day of spring. Both events are significant to me. Read More
