Responding to a State Bar Investigation Letter
In fiscal year 2022, The State Bar of California’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) opened 16,355 cases investigating alleged attorney misconduct—a decrease in the number of cases that were opened over each of the…
New “Snitch Rule” Goes Into Effect on August 1, 2023
The California Supreme Court recently approved a new ethics rule requiring California licensed attorneys to “snitch” on their peers. What do we have to report and to whom? Well, it depends. What’s Reportable? Rule 8.3(a)…
Not All Attorney-Client Communications are Privileged
The attorney-client privilege is at the center of the attorney-client relationship and for good reason. It gives clients a safe space to talk about their legal issues with their attorney. But as we all know,…
To Snitch or Not to Snitch?
California attorneys are going to feel the fallout from the Girardi scandal for a long time to come. In addition to changes requiring all attorneys in the state to report details about client trust accounts,…
Duty of Confidentiality—It’s Broader Than You Might Think
Every lawyer knows, hopefully, that we all owe a duty of confidentiality to our clients. How broad is that duty? It’s pretty broad. California Rules of Professional Conduct rule 1.6(a) states, “A lawyer shall not…
Avoiding this Common Client Complaint
One of the most common complaints clients make to the State Bar is failing to communicate. That may seem surprising with the ease of instant communication today but it’s true. It’s also a pretty simple…