By Eric R. Deitz
Changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct accompany the coming new year, and consistent with the duty of competence (Rule 1.1)[1], California attorneys must apprise themselves of the same. Two important and related changes take effect January 1, 2023, and affect a lawyer’s obligation to communicate (Rule 1.4) and to safely handle client funds and property (Rule. 1.15). Read More
By Julie Thorpe-Lopez
Paradoxically, the pressure to be joyful during the holidays sometimes eviscerates the actual experience of joy. In addition to the regular stress of our jobs, family, and personal obligations, we are bombarded with pressures to celebrate, whether we actually celebrate a particular holiday or not. Adding to this already overflowing plate of stress is traveling or hosting guests, shopping, financial pressures, and spending time with extended family — with whom we may or may not positively connect. When things don’t go the way the holidays look in commercials or on social media (most of which is really unachievable unless your profession is “TV producer” or “social media influencer”), we feel a sense of failure. When our kids are going bananas without a regular school routine for three or four weeks, we feel like we are blowing it as parents. Plus, we’ve all endured a years-long pandemic and have been in fight-or-flight adrenaline overload for much longer than humans were made to endure. We still have tremendous political divisiveness permeating the media — another stressor that crops up with the extended family time we are expected to put in. It’s no surprise that joy and peace don’t always come easily during this time. Read More
By Charles Berwanger
All of us have most probably received email communications from opposing counsel in a matter in which counsel’s client is shown as a “cc.” You have been waiting for the opportunity to at long last communicate with the client. You fear that opposing counsel has not communicated your settlement offer to the client and now may be the opportunity to communicate that offer by hitting the “reply all” tab. The settlement proposal is relevant to the substance of the email. However, you are concerned that such a communication may violate Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2 which proscribes communicating with a represented party without the consent of opposing counsel. Read More
By Megan M. Moore
In moments of stress or frustration, you might notice you don’t want to feel this way and then double down by telling yourself that you shouldn’t feel this way, or that you got yourself into this mess to begin with. Now you’re feeling stressed and bad about yourself. Sound familiar? Read More
By Jeff Michalowski
In recent years, amicus briefing has played an increasingly significant role in appellate practice. This is true, of course, in blockbuster Supreme Court cases like Dobbs (in which 133 amici filed briefs) and Obergefell (in which 149 amici filed briefs). But amicus briefs consume more and more of practitioners’ time in the intermediate appellate courts as well, and occasionally in the trial courts, too. Consider Kitchen v. Herbert, 755 F.3d 1193 (10th Cir. 2014) (identifying 257 amicus briefs in same-sex marriage case). See also Allison Orr Larsen, “The Amicus Machine,” 102 Virginia Law Review 1901 (2016) (noting the increased use of amicus briefs, and increased citation to amicus briefs in opinions). Read More
Message from the Social Events Chair
June 16, 2022
Message from the Editor of For the Record
September 14, 2021
Application of CRPC 1.15 to Government Lawyers
February 20, 2024
January 19, 2024
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