Protecting Law Clerks from Harassment
The Legal Accountability Project’s goal is to ensure that as many law clerks as possible have positive clerkship experiences, while extending support and resources to those who do not.
Category: Ethics
The Future of Legal Ethics
Legal ethics: It’s not a class in your first-year curriculum. It’s a concept that will follow your every decision as a lawyer. And, just like the law itself, ethics rules are evolving.
The anatomy of our oath as attorneys
After you pass the bar, you’ll be sworn in and required to take an oath. Here’s what you’ll be swearing to do throughout your career.
The ‘crafty lawyer’: Why law students need to care about ethics
Most everyone has heard a lawyer joke, especially if you’ve decided to go to law school. “What’s the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer? A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even longer.”
12 tips to help you avoid disciplinary proceedings
No lawyer sets out to become a disciplinary statistic. Some lawyers, however, find themselves corresponding more often with disciplinary authorities than others. Solo and small firm practitioners, especially with practices in criminal, family or personal injury law, receive the highest number of client complaint letters. During the many
Law students—avoid malpractice and embrace technology!
Did you know that thirty-five states have expressly included knowledge of technology in the official comments for their Rules of Professional Conduct? Most states have adopted language similar to comment 8 of the ABA Model Rule 1.1: Competence.
Double-booked dilemma: Can you send your paralegal to court?
No matter how hard we try, we just can’t be in two places at the same time. When you have two client matters pending on the same date and time, can you send your paralegal to cover one of those matters?
You made a mistake! Do you have an ethical duty to tell the client?
Everyone makes mistakes. Some are minor errors like a typo. Some are more significant and can jeopardize your client’s case. The question arises as to what duty a lawyer has to tell the client they made a mistake.
Social media: Be competent or face the consequence
Honing your social media competency is critical to avoiding professional quagmires and ethical snares in at least two realms: fiduciary duty to clients and conflicts of interest.
Google gaffes: Help keep your judge out of trouble
The ease of the internet has allowed us to instantly satisfy any curiosity. What happens when a judge is curious to learn more about facts beyond what the parties have presented?
Is it ethical for lawyers to use LinkedIn to research jurors?
Most lawyers want to know as much as possible about the jurors on their case. Some may consider using social media to research jurors but hesitate because they don’t know if they can ethically do so. Consider the following scenario. Scroll all the way down
Can text message ads bring you more clients – or more problems?
I have no personal experience with this, but there are studies that have found that text message advertising is more effective than email campaigns. I hear that it works better because it is simple, fast, and won’t break the bank. However, the question lawyers must ask is whether text messaging
Supreme Court justices, recusal, and the Code of Conduct for United States Judges
While this article takes no position on the ethics issues if any that are implicated in these events, it is instructive to explore how the Supreme Court justices address matters of judicial ethics that may from time to time confront individual members of the Court.
A lawyer's duty to self-report disciplinary misconduct
The central theme for this article is Oklahoma’s Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP) 7.7(a), which revolves around lawyer misconduct received in other jurisdictions and the duty to self-report. This article takes a deeper look into a rule that is not tested on the bar exam, yet looms over every Oklahoma licensed attorney (reciprocity or not), and also has a time frame for compliance.
Email communications between lawyers and clients are privileged, right?
Lawyers using email to communicate with clients is the norm. There is usually an expectation and understanding that these communications are privileged. But, can the privilege be lost?
Can judges and attorneys be Facebook friends?
Should you be concerned if your opposing counsel and the judge on your case are “friends” on Facebook? What if you are a judge and you are “friends” with one of the attorneys who appears before you?
Withdrawing from the client who owes you money
If a lawyer has a client who has fallen behind in payments, and future payment does not appear to be forthcoming, a lawyer may try to withdraw from the representation. If you withdraw, how much information should you share about the reason for your withdrawal?
An attorney's loose lips can sink a client's ship
The origins of the title to this article derives from World War II at a time when ship convoys from the United States were making their way across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom. Anyone in the know about ship movements was warned not to talk about it
Doing someone a legal favor? You're not doing yourself any.
Nate has been your daughter’s soccer coach for almost 3 years. Nate’s daughter is your daughter’s closest friend. Nate is a pretty good soccer coach and has led your daughter’s team to the finals every year. After a mid-season game all the players and the parents decided to go out
When what you don't know can end your legal career before it starts
Every year around this time, graduating law students are preparing to take the bar exam; and completing the Character & Fitness questionnaires with the hope that the Committee will find they are fit to practice law. Perhaps you know a law student; or you have one working in
What are the parameters of 'practice' if you're not yet a lawyer?
Law students often receive their first practical experience in the practice of law as a law student employee of a law firm. This can be a great experience for law students, but a law student is not a lawyer and what the law student is allowed to do is limited. Our
Keep your practice out of disciplinary trouble with these tips
There are bad examples in every profession, even in the law. This webinar will help you from becoming the next bad example. "Steering Clear of Lawyer Discipline" addresses several pitfalls of the trends in today's legal field. Many recently licensed lawyers are going solo, practicing in small firm settings or are
Civility is the Core of Your Successful Career
Not only do lawyers serve as representatives of their clients, they serve as officers of the legal system and public citizens having special responsibility to the quality of justice. But how can lawyers go about being professionals while remaining civil with the person on the other side of the table? Learn
When helping a client might be unethical
In certain cases, you may have a client who is struggling financially while waiting for that hoped for recovery in the matter you are handling for them. You want to help them in some way, but can you?
Interested in legal ethics? FASPE provides an experience you won't forget
FASPE utilizes the Holocaust as a historical case study of the role of ethics by examining the German legal system during the Nazi regime.
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