What To Do When a Witness Lies
By Charles Berwanger
Practice law long enough and it will happen to you. You’ll learn, after the fact, that a witness on whom you were counting lied at a deposition. With trial looming, what do you do?
Category: Legal Ethics
Rule 1.18 Imposes Duties Owed To A Prospective Client, But Not All Communications Result in a Person Becoming A Prospective Client
By Anne Rudolph
Lana Lawyer has a plaintiff’s personal injury practice. She does not maintain an internet web site and does not otherwise engage in advertising. However, her e-mail address is published on the State Bar of California membership records website accessible to the public.
Ethically Representing a Client at Deposition or Trial
By Eric Deitz
A recent ABA ethics opinion addresses the demands that arise when preparing a client to testify and during their testimony. The ABA issued Formal Opinion 508 on August 5, 2023.
To Delete or Not To Delete, That is the Ethical Question
By Shelly Skinner
Nowadays, it’s hard for a lawyer to ignore the ubiquity of social media and its potential to impact clients’ cases. Some jurisdictions have even said that a lawyer’s duty of competence includes competence with social media.[1]
Civility Comes Full Circle
By David C. Carr
Once upon a time in the 19th Century, a man named David Dudley Field had some time on his hands. As a lawyer, this man was naturally inclined to write a code, a popular activity at the time. Large parts of this Code, the Field Code, became the law in a few states, including California, which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Field’s brother, Stephen Field, was the fifth justice of the California Supreme Court.
