As we all wait to see what comes next with COVID-19 as cities temporarily ban the gathering of large groups, entire businesses close down their physical locations and set their workers up remotely, entire school systems come to a halt, the NBA temporarily suspends its season, and many panic and rush to buy bottled[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on January 21, 2014. Voluminous paper and electronic files are not just a hassle to store and manage, but keeping files beyond your ethical obligation to do so can actually be troublesome. You need to know the rules applicable in your state and[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on June 5, 2013. Judges are on social media, making their online profiles prime targets for lawyers looking to know more about the triers of fact. Lawyers must be careful, though, not to step across the line to unethical conduct when using social media to[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on April 4, 2014. Managing trust accounts – handling other people’s money – is one of the most sensitive things lawyers do, and one of the most common sources of ethical violations. You must know the rules. Common Rules Every state has its[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on October 31, 2017. On Friday, October 27, 2017, Virginia Bar’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics voted to send Legal Ethics Opinion 1885 to the Supreme Court for Adoption. LEO 1885 addresses third-party platforms offering legal services on a flat fee basis. While it[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on September 10, 2014. Some of the most fundamental rules governing the ethics of lawyers relate to attorney advertising. Don’t over-promise in your ads, include basic disclaimers, and never offer your services to someone you know is already represented. Related: Law Firm Website: Is[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on July 22, 2015. California’s proposed ethics opinion on attorney duties in e-discovery has been finalized. The opinion is unsurprising in terms of its analysis of today’s technology and long-standing ethics rules, and it highlights that in today’s world, discovery is extremely complex and[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on September 21, 2016. In 2016, an Ohio lawyer supporting the Black Lives Matter movement appeared in court for a client, apparently with no case link to BLM, while wearing a BLM pin. The judge took issue with the pin and asked her[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on March 4, 2013. Bar complaint statistics have been updated to reflect the summary report provided by the California State Bar for 2018. Every year, ethics boards receive thousands of complaints. The California State Bar alone received almost 16,000 in 2018, a number[…]
This post was written by Megan Zavieh and originally published on Lawyerist.com on November 2, 2015. A file of complete and thorough notes is gold when you have to detail your work for an ethics or malpractice claim, to work through a billing dispute, to transfer a file to another lawyer, to prepare a declaration in[…]