On July 1, 2019, Virginia HB 1954 Uniform Power of Attorney Act; recovery of attorney fees, became effective. The Bill added Virginia Code Section 64.2-1614. It provides that – in a judicial proceeding brought under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act – if the court finds that the agent breached his fiduciary duty, the […]
Two courts in Canada recently dealt with excessive legal fees charged for performing legal research and found out that computer-assisted legal research is a necessity for the contemporary practice of law but shall be carried out with competence. In both Cass v. Ontario and Drummond v. Cadillac the Ontario Superior Court commented on artificial intelligence and […]
Ethics Advisory Committee Topic: Lawyer accepting earnest money deposits from a client through PayPal Summary from the opinion A lawyer is required to hold property of clients or third persons in connection with representation separate from the lawyer’s own property, but can comply with that obligation if the PayPal account in question does not […]
Lawyer may participate in an online rating system, NC Ethics Opinion states Topic: participation in website directories and rating systems that include third party reviews The Opinion “explains when a lawyer may participate in an online rating system, and a lawyer’s professional responsibility for the content posted on a profile on a website directory.” […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: “Delivering client file to client, maintenance of client files in electronic form.” Digest of the Committee: Where a lawyer keeps client files received in electronic form in that form and a former client requests a copy of the file in paper form, the lawyer must take reasonable measures to deliver […]
North Carolina State Bar 2017 Formal Ethics Opinion 1 April 21, 2017 Topic: text message advertising The Opinion clarifies that lawyers may use the text message advertising that allows the user to initiate a live telephone communication, provided it complies with North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3, and all applicable federal […]
On June 21, 2017, the New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, Committee on Attorney Advertising, and Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law opined that New Jersey lawyers may not participate in the Avvo legal service programs “because the programs improperly require the lawyer to share a legal fee with a nonlawyer”. The Committees […]
Topic: “Lawyers Participating in Impermissible Lawyer Referral Services and Providing Legal Services for Unregistered Legal Service Plans – Avvo, LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer, and Similar Companies” From the Opinion In sum, the Committees find that the Avvo website offers an impermissible referral service, in violation of Rules of Professional Conduct 7.2(c) and 7.3(d), as well as […]
On April 27, 2017, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered the suspension of an attorney from the practice of law for a period of 90 days followed by 1 year’s monitored probation. The Counsel for Discipline of the Nebraska Supreme Court filed formal charges against the attorney. According to the charges, the attorney had taken […]
Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee Topic: attorneys participating in fixed fee limited scope legal services referral programs The fixed-fee legal referral service works as follows: A for-profit business (the “Business”), which is not a law firm or lawyer-owned, assists in pairing up potential clients seeking certain legal services with lawyers who are willing […]