New York has become the first U.S. state to mandate that attorneys take continuing legal education courses in cybersecurity, privacy and data protection.
Under the new requirement, all attorneys must complete one hour of training every two years in either the ethical obligations surrounding cybersecurity, privacy and data protection, or in the technological and practice-related…
An Ontario judge has laid down the law on technology competence, ruling in no uncertain terms that every lawyer has a duty to keep pace with changing technology, and that a lawyer’s discomfort with new technologies — in this case, video depositions — is no excuse for reverting to pre-pandemic methods.
“With the current pace…
Two years ago, I wrote a column calling for the duty of technology — which applies to lawyers in 39 states — to be extended to judges. While that has not happened in the United States, it has now happened in Canada.
Yesterday, the Canadian Judicial Council published a new and modernized…
When it rains it pours. Earlier today, I wrote about adoption of the duty of technology competence by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. Now comes word of another U.S. state adopting the duty, bringing the total number of states to 38.
The latest is South Carolina, where on the day before…
Ever since 2012, when the American Bar Association amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to include a duty of technology competence, adoption has spread across the United States, with 37 states having now formally adopted some version of Model Rule 1.1, Comment 8.
But the U.S. is not alone in considering lawyers’ duty…
When I give presentations on lawyers’ ethical duty to be competent in technology, audience members often come up to me afterwards and ask something to the effect of, “Ok, I get it, but how do I become competent in technology?”
Preparing for another such talk this week, I thought I’d put the question…
The Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia have voted to approve proposed changes to the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct that would adopt the duty of technology competence. The proposed changes will now be published for a 30-day comment period and then submitted for approval to the Georgia Supreme Court.…
Michigan today become the 37th state to adopt the ethical duty of technology competence for lawyers.
The Michigan Supreme Court issued an order adopting a variation of Model Rule 1.1, Comment 8, of the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
[See my Tech Competence page where I track the states that…
Thirty-six states have adopted the duty of technology competence for lawyers, and now Michigan is considering joining the list with proposed changes to its Rules of Professional Conduct.
In April, the Michigan Supreme Court put out a request for public comment with regard to proposed amendments to Rules 1.1 and 1.6 of its…
A committee tasked with reviewing the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct has recommended adoption of revisions designed to underscore that a lawyer’s duty to provide competent representation extends to use of technology.
In addition, the committee has recommended changes to make clear that a lawyer’s duty to protect the confidentiality of client…
As regular readers of this blog know, I track the states that have adopted the duty of technology competence for lawyers. As of this writing, 36 states have done so. In addition, two states have revised their CLE rules to require ongoing technology training for lawyers.
Maine has done neither — it has…
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have probably noticed that I have closely followed the evolution of the duty of technology competence for lawyers, frequently writing about it and even devoting a page to tracking states’ adoption of the duty.
The duty is derived from the American Bar Association’s Model…
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