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. Read More

By Deborah Wolfe

One of the many facets of serving on the SDCBA’s Legal Ethics Committee (“LEC”) (in addition to penning articles for “Ethics in Brief “and “For the Record”) includes providing MCLE seminars for other lawyers focusing on legal ethics requirements. I frequently observe on such occasions the panicked looks on attendees’ faces when something I’ve said makes them fearful about possibly having missed a conflict of interest situation, or providing a client with appropriate disclosures within ethical boundaries. The purpose of the seminars is not to scare practitioners into compliance, but merely to remind them of the high standards lawyers are expected to meet. Lawyers’ ethics require us to put our clients’ interests ahead of our own; no other profession requires such an extreme level of duty to one’s clients. To the point, Business & Professions Code section 6068(e) requires lawyers to maintain the confidences of our clients at “every peril” to ourselves. I have always interpreted this section to mean that even faced with a loaded gun, I should take a bullet rather than betray any client confidence or secret. Despite its antiquated language, subsequent case law and State Bar decisions have held this section to convey that in addition to confidences and secrets, it requires lawyers to maintain the highest level of fiduciary duty and undivided loyalty to their clients. Read More

By Edward J. McIntyre

One would have to have been living on another planet not to recognize that generative AI is upon us —and all the rage. Whether ChatGPT, Bing A.I., Bard or some other platform, it’s hard to miss the proliferation of information — and misinformation — about large-learning-model platforms. They’ll either miraculously transform the way we work, recreate, communicate — or will destroy it. Rest assured, there’s only more to come. Read More