California Legal Ethics

The death of beloved entertainer Doris Day at the age of 97 naturally evokes in a California ethics lawyer memories of another who was not at all beloved.  Jerome Rosenthal.  The “man who was too mean to die”, as described by one of the discipline prosecutors who spent 20 years disbarring Rosent...

Another interesting State Bar Court decision, this one unpublished.  In the Matter of Bhardwaj.  Aside from another reminder that lawyers can be disciplined for conduct occurring outside the practice of law when they represent themselves, there is an interesting discussion of one of the things th...

Like May toadstools sprouting after an April rain, three new published Review Department decisions appeared together on the State Bar Court's website on or about May Day.  Only one (In the Matter of Amponsah) is recent, filed April 22, 2019; the other two (In the Matter of Chance Gordon and In ...

The reported exchange between President Trump and the former White House counsel Mr. McGahn regarding his note-taking shines a light on one of the bigger fault lines in legal ethics: the tension between the lawyer's role as an advocate for a client and the lawyer's responsibilities to others.  N...

When is a privilege not a privilege? When it is the attorney work product “privilege” is at least one possible answer to that question.  A recent published opinion (People v. Superior Court (Jones, case no. D074028, published 3/09/19) from Fourth Appellate District, Div. 1, continues to the dis...

slap·hap·py /ˈslapˌhapē/ adjective informal adjective: slap-happy casual or flippant in a cheerful and often irresponsible way. “he possessed slaphappy courage” synonyms: happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care, carefree, cheerful, breezy, easygoing, nonchalant, insouciant, blithe, airy, c...

The first returns are in on the State Bar's project to cross-check attorney fingerprints against criminal records,  well summarized by Lyle Moran in his Above The Law post.  To date, the fingerprinting cross-checks have yielded 2,200 unreported lawyer convictions, including 20 felony convictions...

There is probably no bad time to discuss the ethics of extortionate lawyer demands, written and otherwise, but this time may be better than most. These ethics may seem a little paradoxical, much like the crime of extortion itself – how can I be criminally liable for threatening to do something t...

Todd and James in an earlier incarnation. A novel conflict case from the Sixth Appellate District upholds a disqualification order not based on conflict of interest.  The saga of the brothers Jarvis begins with the formation of business entities by Mr. Jarvis and Mrs. Jarvis which involves the ...

The State Bar of California is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to the sample fee agreement forms.  The forms have been revised to conform to new California Rules of Professional Conduct that became effective on November 1, 2018.  Included are changes addressing new Rule 1.15 regardin...

The Regulation and Discipline Committee (RAD) of the State Bar Board of Trustees has approved Formal State Bar Ethics Opinion 2019–197, The Opinion discusses a lawyer's ethical obligations when seeking advice regarding ethics issues, either from an independent counsel or another lawyer in the law...

California lawyers who commit felony crimes found their sledding a bit tougher on January 1, 2019. On that date new amendments to Business and Professions Code section 6102(c) went into effect, expanding the definition of crimes subject to summary disbarment. Summary disbarment, as the name impli...

A pair of new ethics opinons from the Legal Ethics Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association addressing lawyer marketing issue have been approved and published. Opinion no. 2019-1 discusses attorney's marketing of legal forms. It asks: Under what conditions may lawyers provide electronic ...

California statutory law of attorney duty enshrines an extremely strict standard regarding attorney confidentiality, Business and Professions code section 6068(e). it's romantic language requires an attorney to keep the confidence and secrets of the client “at every peril” to the attorney.  The o...

The ABA Journal has the story about a law firm suing  an associate who signed a employment contract providing for three year term. The associate left after just one year. The contract includes a stipulated damages clause that requires the payment of $10,000 if the associate leaves before the end ...

Division 3 of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has referred a lawyer to the California State Bar based on the lawyer's reference to a female judge's ruling as “succubustic.”  Citing the definition of a succubus “as a demon assuming female form which has sexual intercourse with men in their sle...

Florida Congressman and lawyer Matt Gaetz is the latest public figure slash lawyer to be targeted over something incredibly stupid that he or she said or did. In Representative Gaetz's case, the stupid was tweeting a comment that appeared to be aimed at dissuading a witness from testifying before...

One of the most dreaded consequences of disciplinary action is the requirement that the disciplined attorney comply with California Rule of Court 9.20. Rule 9.20 requires  the disciplined  lawyer to do a number of things, including giving notice by certified mail of the suspension to all clients,...

The San Diego County Bar Association has published an ethics opinion relevant to electronic discovery issues.  San Diego County Bar Association Formal Ethics Opinion 2018-3 poses the question: To what extent may lawyers use technology assisted review to identify documents to be produced in respon...

The new California Rules of Professional Conduct are just over three months old. Aside from scattered murmurings of discontent, there is surprisingly little uproar.  A large number of lawyers seem blissfully unaware that there's been any change at all in the landscape of their professional obliga...

The Florida Bar is seeking discipline against a lawyer for a “social media blitz” against opposing counsel. The ABA Journal has the story: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2019/02/22/florida-bar-wants-broward-lawyer-suspended-over-social-media-blitz-against-opposing-counsel/ Helpfully inc...

Welcome to California Legal Ethics! My aim to provide timely and relevant information about California legal ethics to the California lawyers, law students and other legal professionals.  The legal profession is undergoing rapid and disorienting change.  Many of those changes  and traditional leg...