Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

In the practice of law, dates and deadlines are the currency in which lawyers traffic. As filing dates and appearance dates pile up, the likelihood of missing one increases exponentially — with dramatic results. At best, you’ll lose your case. ...

Lately, thinking creatively about the practice of law has been a theme running through my professional life. While we are a relatively stodgy profession, many avenues for legal innovation exist. From applying new technology to a traditional ...

Our own Merrilyn Aston Tarlton recently wrote here about five ways solos can find time for law firm retreats. And on that score, ...

Alternative Business Structures (ABS) is the innocuous label given to one of the most important, yet ignored, issues facing the legal profession today. It is the debate whether or not to change our ethics rules to allow non-lawyer corporate ...

Recently, on a particularly spectacular day at work, two victories came my clients’ way. I couldn’t help reflecting on the emotions coursing through me — it was as if the events of the day belonged to me, to my life, when in fact they belonged ...

Maybe you're due for a little spring makeover? For this Friday Five+ installment, we asked our practice management dream team for their best tips on tidying up your office systems. Heidi Alexander, Dustin Cole, Sharon Nelson, Nora Regis, Deborah ...

I can appreciate a well-crafted cocktail. But when I am in a situation where such beverages are being served, I never get involved in a conversation about someone’s legal problems. And I strongly encourage you to do the same. Here's a short ...

In the past, “outsourcing” brought to mind images of large offices filled with workers on telephones, most likely overseas, fielding customer service center phone calls. That it is not what I have in mind when I suggest using outsourcing in your ...

I work with a lot of solo lawyers, both in my client base (unfortunately, ethics cases arise more frequently in solo practice), and in my network of professional colleagues. My colleagues in the ethics defense bar are frequently solos, and I ...

It is drilled into us during ethics classes, studying for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and in continuing legal education courses: When a client requests it, you must hand over “the file.” But have you ever stopped to ...