Ever since 2012, when the American Bar Association amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to say that lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology, there has been debate over just how far that duty extends.
In a decision that could be a harbinger of how other states will rule, the State Bar…
Nicole Hyland
If you haven’t watched Better Call Saul then, well, you’d better. The Breaking Bad spin-off features the travails of Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, an ethically challenged advocate for whoever will pay his fee. This is a lawyer whose every action seems tailored for a law…
I wrote recently that 13 states (see full list) had adopted the ethical duty of technology competence reflected in 2012 amendments to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Well, make it 14. Today, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ordered the adoption of Comment 8 to Rule 1.1, which will now read as…
[Update 3/15/18: Indiana adopted the rule, so the total is now 31.]
[Update 3/14/18: Kentucky adopts the rule, bringing total to 30.]
[Update 3/5/18:…
It was big news in 2012 when the American Bar Association amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology. Specifically, the ABA amended the comment to Model Rule 1.1, governing lawyer competence, to say that, in addition to keeping abreast of changes in the…
A former American Bar Association ethics lawyer has launched a web service that serves as an “emergency room” for lawyers who need immediate assistance with legal ethics issues. The site, ER for Lawyers, provides ethics research to lawyers nationwide.
The site’s founder, Kathryn A. Thompson, is an Illinois lawyer who formerly served…
A lawyer for a party may 'friend' an unrepresented adversary in order to obtain information helpful to her representation from the adversary's nonpublic website only when the lawyer has been able to send a message that discloses his or her identity as the party's lawyer.Although the opinion used the Facebook term of "friend," the committee said that its opinion applies equally…
An update from LinkedIn this morning indicated that a connection of mine had endorsed me as being skilled in litigation. The person who endorsed me is someone I know only through the Internet. We have never met or spoken, that I can recall. That means that the person has no first-hand knowledge of my skill…
Florida has become the latest state to opine on the legal ethics of cloud computing. The proposed opinion follows other states that have addressed the issue in concluding that lawyers may ethically use cloud computing, provided they exercise due diligence to ensure that the cloud provider maintains adequate safeguards to protect the confidentiality and security…
Would you consider it ethical for a lawyer to post the following to a social media site such as Facebook:
“Another great victory in court today! My client is delighted. Who wants to be next?”
In California, that post would violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, according to a
Virtual lawyering is all the rage, but what exactly does it mean? Merriam-Webster tells us that, in this context, “virtual” means “being on or simulated on a computer or computer network.” Lawyers such as Stephanie Kimbro and Richard Granat are good examples of lawyers “being…
Robert Ambrogi Blog