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The 2024 Disciplinary Rules Referendum: Fulfilling Our Duty of Self-Governance
March 28, 2024From April 1 to April 30, 2024, Texas lawyers can vote on 12 ballot items presented by the legislatively-created Committee on Disciplinary Rules & Referenda. Texas lawyers are very fortunate to self-govern, and one of the ways that they can continue to ensure their freedom to do so is to Read the full post
Don’t Sue Clients, and Other Thoughts for Young Lawyers on Building an Ethical Career
February 27, 2024Most law schools offer a Legal Ethics class. Commonly, it’s taken in the third year of law school when most law students are busy with clinics, job searches, community service, Practice Court, capstone projects, or other activities that distract from learning professional responsibility. In fact, a third-year’s attention is most Read the full post
Serving on a Board of Directors? Mind your Ethics
November 29, 2023Lawyers are routinely invited, cajoled, persuaded, pressured, or otherwise asked to serve on a board of directors. Nonprofits and for-profits alike seek the mental dexterity and contacts lawyers have, and they may even be hoping for a bit of “free” legal advice. Board service can also be rewarding for the Read the full post
The Ethics of Referrals, Part 3
October 24, 2023PART III: REFERRALS FROM NON-LAWYER SOURCES Part I of The Ethics of Referrals series provided an overview of attorney-to-attorney referrals. Part II examined unique issues in those referrals. Part III, the final article in this series, discusses referrals from legal referral services and through websites that act as internet legal Read the full post
The Ethics of Referrals, Part 2
September 12, 2023PART II: UNIQUE ISSUES IN ATTORNEY-TO-ATTORNEY REFERRALS Part 1 of The Ethics of Referrals series provided an overview of attorney-to-attorney referrals. Part II examines unique issues in those referrals. For example, may a criminal defense attorney agree to refer all of his personal injury cases to his friend, a personal Read the full post
The Ethics of Referrals, Part 1
August 22, 2023PART I: ATTORNEY-TO-ATTORNEY REFERRALS Business generation consumes the minds of every attorney responsible for ensuring a consistent pipeline of clients and work. General and attorney-focused networking, digital marketing, bar events, speaking engagements, public and nonprofit service, and community sponsorships fill many calendars and budgets. These business development efforts present a Read the full post
Avoiding Ethical Issues with Third Party Payors
June 19, 2023Consider the following hypothetical. You represent a client in a child custody dispute. The client’s parents offer to cover your legal expenses. As you delve into the case, you realize that the grandparents’ interests may not align with the best interests of the client or the client’s child. While third-party Read the full post
Ethical Implications of using AI for Texas Attorneys
May 17, 2023The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered tools, like ChatGPT, has the potential to transform various industries and how tasks are performed. And many proponents argue that the legal industry is no exception. While the emergence of these technological advancements has the potential to deliver better client service and increase Read the full post
ABA Formal Opinion 503 Finds Implied Consent to “Reply All” Responses
April 18, 2023Should I “reply all”? Wait–did I just inadvertently “reply all”?! We’ve all asked ourselves these questions. For lawyers, “reply all” raises more than just questions of workplace etiquette (or possible sources of mortification), but ethical questions as well. In this Article, we discuss the recent formal opinion from the American Read the full post
Attorney Grievances Part 2: 5 Avoidable Mistakes
March 20, 2023In last month’s Article, we provided an overview of the grievance process. We discussed that most grievances (about 70% last year) were dismissed as “inquiries” at classification and not investigated. But when there are sufficient allegations of attorney misconduct that would violate the ethics rules, the Texas Chief Disciplinary Counsel Read the full post