Author: San Diego County Bar Association

The California Rules of Professional Conduct: An Overview; Rule Changes in 2023; and Prognostications for 2024

By Charles Berwanger

The all-important Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to guide our lives as attorneys, and in some instances our personal lives, and with this new year it behooves all of us to re-familiarize ourselves with the Rules. The purposes of the Rules are to “protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession, protect the integrity of the legal system; and promote the administration of justice and confidence in the legal profession.” Rule 1.10. It continues that “the Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to establish the standards for lawyers for purposes of discipline….Therefore, failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by Rule is a basis for invoking the disciplinary process.” Read More

Please Stop Asking This Question

By Tatiana Kline

“When are you going to have children?” It seems like an innocent question. But for many, the thought of answering the question drums up anxiety, stress, insecurities, and maybe even grief. Read More

Technology and Generative AI

The State Bar Acts to Impose on Attorneys Guidance for the Use of Generative AI and Future Continuing Education Requirements Regarding Technology in the Practice of Law

By Charles Berwanger

A December 6, 2023 New York Times’ edition’s first page’s headline announced “Nations Losing Race to Control Dangers of A. I.” The article continues with an internal headline: “Losing The Race to Control A. I.’s Perils – Alarmed by the power of artificial intelligence, Europe, the United States and others are trying to respond – but the technology is evolving more rapidly than their policies.” The article explains that “‘no one, not even the creators of these systems, know what they will be able to do,’ said Matt Clifford, an adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain, who presided over an A. I. Safety Summit last month with 28 countries. ‘The urgency comes from there being a real question of whether governments are equipped to deal with and mitigate the risks.’ Read More

Be a Joiner

By Heidi Weaver

What does it mean to be a joiner? Here are some informal definitions of “joiner” that I found: Read More