ABA Journal

Client Protection

95 ABA Journal Client Protection articles.

Ex-lawyer Murdaugh, in prison for murder, is charged with stealing from clients

A disbarred lawyer who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife and one of his sons has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly stealing money from clients and his housekeeper’s family.

New ABA ethics opinion warns about handling retainer and other fees

Lawyers may not generally avoid the obligation to place client funds into a trust account upon receipt, according to an ethics opinion from the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released Wednesday.

Lawyer who sought client relationship with ‘daddy/daughter dynamic’ gets suspension

A Lancaster, Ohio, lawyer has been suspended after texting a client that he would like to share a “daddy/daughter dynamic” with her “in and out of the bedroom.”

Lawyers suspended for copying client data, unilaterally notifying clients about new firm

Two Florida associates who hoped to take their clients with them when they left their personal injury law firm have been suspended from law practice for violating bar rules during that process.

Trump’s $500M suit against Michael Cohen alleges ‘multiple breaches of fiduciary duty’

Former President Donald Trump has filed a $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen for allegedly revealing client confidences and spreading falsehoods about him.

Associate uploaded over 7,900 documents to external Dropbox before quitting, Littler alleges

Updated: Littler Mendelson is accusing a “disgruntled” associate of uploading more than 7,900 documents to an external Dropbox in February.

86-year-old lawyer caught on video groping multiple clients avoids disbarment

An 86-year-old Missouri lawyer has been suspended, but not disbarred, for groping five clients and touching another on the buttocks—all incidents that were caught on video.

Preventive Law: Helping your clients before push comes to shove

Rare is the client who looks to litigators, alternative dispute resolution specialists or even corporate counsel as the “go to” persons for providing services that will prevent disputes. Most attorneys serve their clients by representing them in disputes that are already or soon to be underway, with a focus on billable negotiation, mediation, arbitration or litigation representation. When it comes to employee and manager education, skills training and systemic dispute prevention, business leaders look not to their attorney advocates but to a potpourri of human relations consultants, trainers and behavioral science experts.

Arrests without formal charges or convictions no longer have to be disclosed by would-be lawyers in New York

The New York Supreme Court’s appellate division is whittling down the types of justice system involvement that would-be lawyers have to disclose when applying for bar admission. The changes are intended “to better promote equity and fairness in the character and fitness interview process.”

State bar finds ‘shocking past culture of unethical and unacceptable behavior’ in its handling of Girardi complaints

Disbarred trial lawyer Tom Girardi’s efforts to buy relationships and exercise influence at the State Bar of California likely caused some ethics complaints against him to be improperly closed, according to an outside review released Friday.

Choice-of-law questions for state ethics rules examined in new ABA opinion

Lawyers admitted to multiple jurisdictions may be subject to different ethical requirements in the different states in which they are licensed to practice law, according to a new ABA ethics opinion.

Family law gave this lawyer some ideas about what clients really want

Jessica Bednarz has spent much of her career representing people, researching access-to-justice issues and using that knowledge to try to find better ways to deliver legal services. That includes using what’s known as “design thinking” for developing client service programs.

Ex-judge is suspended after secret recording by possible rival candidate revealed threat

A former judge in Missouri has been suspended for at least two years after he was recorded threatening to reveal the affairs of a rival’s husband if she ran against him in the judicial election.

Attorney-client privilege case dismissed by Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed an attorney-client privilege case two weeks after hearing oral arguments.

Judge won’t sanction Texas lawyer for missteps after mistaken disclosure of info about Sandy Hook families

Updated: A Connecticut judge has declined to sanction a Texas lawyer representing Infowars host Alex Jones for failing to take proper action after his paralegal mistakenly released confidential documents to the opposing counsel.

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