Legal Ethics Archives

Dictionary definition of the word Ethics.

Can You Confront Opposing Counsel if Opposing Counsel Is Violating the Rules of Professional Conduct?

Believing that opposing counsel violated the California Rules of Professional Conduct (CRPC or Rule) can present a clear ethical dilemma for attorneys. However, Rule 3.10, also known as the extortion prohibition rule, provides limitations on the attorney’s actions. Rule 3.10…

Data Breach: Breaking Down a Lawyer’s Ethical Duties to Inquire and Disclose

Your laptop or smartphone containing client confidences is lost or stolen. Or, you learn that the public Wi-Fi that you accessed yesterday without using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) was a fake internet portal set up by hackers. Even worse,…

Can You Handle the Truth?

Attorneys must be honest for the justice system to work and for the system to have any credibility to the general public. To that end, attorneys had a duty of candor under the old California Rules of Professional Conduct (CRPC)…

Aerial view of cars driving on freeways that go to four different directions

Location, Location, Location: Unauthorized Practice of Law in California

Thanks to advances in technology, lawyers around the country are able to represent their clients remotely, no matter where the lawyers physically shelter-in-place. Unfortunately, the rules and laws governing the unauthorized practice of law (UPL) and multi-jurisdictional practice (MJP) are…

Beware Private Uncertified Referral Companies

You get a call from a person working for a company that promises you that they are looking for three lawyers practicing in your field of emphasis in the Bay Area and that, if you sign up now for a…

Judicial Ethics and Independence Must Guide Judges’ Responses to Racial Injustice

Judge Noël Wise, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Monica F. Wiley, San Francisco County Superior Court In California the judge’s Oath of Office begins, “I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and…

Legal Ethics and COVID-19

As we navigate the challenges of representing clients during the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to remain mindful of our obligations under the California Rules of Professional Conduct (CRPC). A recent Legal Ethics Corner (To Be Diligent, BASF Bulletin, May 2020)…

Rule 1.13 Likely Requires a Lawyer to “Report Up” an Instruction to “Bury the Evidence”

You are outside litigation counsel for a corporate client defending a personal injury case. The plaintiff issues a formal demand for security footage of her fall on your client’s premises. You have the footage in your possession – and it…

To Be Diligent

The California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.3 imposes a separate duty on attorneys to be diligent in their representation of clients. Specifically, Rule 1.3 provides: “(a) A lawyer shall not intentionally, repeatedly, recklessly or with gross negligence fail…

Referral Fees: Front and Center

The recent California Rules of Professional Conduct (“CRPC”), effective November 1, 2018, introduced some needed clarity regarding fee splitting amongst lawyers who are not in the same firm. Prior Rule 2-200(A) prohibited an attorney from splitting a fee with another…

Legal ethics in negotiating

In litigation and transactional work, negotiations with another party’s counsel are inevitable. The better the picture you can paint of your client’s position, the better the resolution you might obtain. However, new Rule 4.1 of the California Rules of Professional…

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Legal Ethics