Useful Guidance from the ABA on Non-Lawyer Assistants
By David C. Carr
The Simpsons lawyer Lionel Hutz wisely observed that “the law books not only make the office look good, they are chock full of useful legal tidbits.”[1]
Tagged: #ethicsinbrief
Not Enough Money
By Mitchell L. Lathrop
Howard Horror (“Howard”)1 was busily representing four very important clients in a lawsuit, Evers et al. v. Jones Company. The Evers case arose because Jones Company had the audacity to fire Howard’s clients for excessive talking while on the job and the unauthorized accessing of sensitive communications between the Jones Company CEO and its lead outside counsel, Josephine Smith. Howard’s clients had learned that Jones Company was in financial difficulty, but Howard was not worried because Jones Company had employment practices liability (EPL) insurance. Even his clients’ signing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Jones Company wasn’t cause for concern. After all, the information they gave Howard was extremely valuable for use in the Evers case.
Potential Pitfalls of Third-Party Financing Your Engagement
By Valerie Silverman Massey
Imagine this scenario: Attorney is retained by Financier to represent Party. Attorney’s client is Party, but Attorney also has a financial relationship with Financier (who may be funding the representation and/or also funding any settlement or judgment).
Use of Purloined Privileged Documents Leads to Disqualification of Counsel
By Carole J. Buckner, Senior Counsel, Klinedinst PC
When Zealous Advocacy Goes Too Far
By Irean Z. Swan
The idea of zealous advocacy is not a foreign concept to an attorney. In fact, the preamble to the Model Rules provides that “[a]s advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system.” But when does zealous advocacy exceed the bounds of the law and cross the line into actionable conduct such as extortion? The Second District Court of Appeal recently examined this question again in the case of Geragos v. Abelyan (2023) 88 Cal.App.5th 1005.
