ABA Rethinking Legal Education?
The ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education is hard at work. Its most recent “working paper,” which it released in anticipation of a public hearing and meeting …
May I Add an Arbitration Clause to My Engagement Agreement?
Yes. Most state courts that have considered the enforceability of lawyer-client arbitration clauses have approved them. The issue was an open question in Louisiana, however, until the Louisiana Supreme …
Expose on Prosecutorial Misconduct in Louisiana
Louisiana is cast in a negative, but accurate, light for its unfortunate history of prosecutorial misconduct, and particularly Brady/Rule 3.8(d) violations in Orleans Parish. Said one exoneree: “These people tried to …
ABA Formal Opinion on Client Due Diligence, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
The ABA’s most recent formal opinion, Formal Op. 463 (May 23, 2013), addresses client due diligence, money laundering and terrorist financing. The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility …
May Lawyers and Accountants “Team Up” to Handle BP Claims?
Many lawyers and accountants have “teamed up” to work jointly to assist claimants with submitting claims against British Petroleum (“BP”) arising out of the April 2010 oil spill caused by …
May I “Friend” an Unrepresented Person on Social Media to Gather Information to Help My Client?
A June 2013 ethics advisory opinion from the New Hampshire Bar Association Ethics Committee advises against a lawyer “friending” a nonparty witness if the lawyer “omit[s] identifying information” from the …
May I Advise My Client to Take Down Harmful Social-Media Content?
Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and countless others are a pervasive part of modern life. We are distracted by it. Our children are addicted to it. Our …
Can I Be Disciplined for My Investigator’s Questionable Conduct?
Perhaps. A lawyer who knowingly uses an investigator or other third party to engage in conduct that the rules would forbid the lawyer from engaging in faces the risk of …
What Do I Do With a Missing Client’s Funds and File?
Uncertain. Under Louisiana Rule 1.15(a): A lawyer shall hold property of clients or third persons that is in a lawyer’s possession in connection with a representation separate from the lawyer’s own …
Maintaining Competence Through Keeping Up With Technology
Last year, the ABA adopted an amendment to ABA Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.1, comment 8, providing that “a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its …