Protecting In-House Correspondence from Disclosure: The Troublesome “CC”
11/28/18
By: Jake Carroll
Commercial disputes present complex issues of causation—what caused the accident, who is responsible, what is impacting company revenue. But before the dispute even arises, in-house attorneys are frequently copied on correspondence with team members and employees evaluating …
Court Rules No Coverage For Pa. Law Firm's Malpractice Suit
11/26/18
By: Barry Brownstein
An insurer does not have to cover a Pennsylvania law firm in a professional malpractice suit that a client filed after the firm allegedly used privileged information to benefit its attorneys’ side business in a real estate …
Eleventh Circuit Holds That Debt Collector Did Not Violate FDCPA Even Though It Misstated Name of Creditor In Collection Letter
11/19/18
By: Bill Buechner
The Eleventh Circuit very recently affirmed a district court’s ruling that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act even though the collection misstated the name of the creditor to whom the consumer …
Closings Gone Bad
10/25/18
By: Dana Maine
Nathan Hardwick IV was convicted by a Northern District of Georgia federal jury on October 12, 2018 of embezzling $26 million from the accounts of his former firm, Morris Hardwick Schneider. $20 million of this amount was …
Is “But-For” Causation In California Legal Malpractice Cases In Jeopardy?
9/18/18
By: Gretchen Carner & Brett Safford
California attorneys sued for fraud and intentional torts, as opposed to negligent legal malpractice, may be subjected to a different causation standard after the California Court of Appeal’s recent opinion in Knutson v. Foster…
Working Without a Net
9/14/18
By: Seth Kirby
For the legal professional, careful and appropriate selection of insurance is an essential component of practice management. When faced with potential liability for an alleged mistake, attorneys should want the safety and security of relying upon their …
Cal. Supreme Court Says Attorneys May Not Get Paid If They Have A Flawed “Blanket” Conflict of Interest Waiver
9/13/18
By: Greg Fayard
The California Supreme Court has weighed in on the vital importance of conflict of interest waivers. A flawed one could deprive attorneys of their fees.
On August 30, 2018, the Supreme Court analyzed the validity of a …
The California State Bar’s New Rule Follows a National Trend of Disciplining Attorneys for Discrimination
8/24/18
By: Paige Pembrook
The newly revised California Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys, set to take effect November 1, 2018, include a tougher approach to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in legal practice that exposes attorneys to State Bar discipline even …
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice To Say….You Probably Shouldn’t Post It!
8/22/18
By: Shaun Daugherty & Samantha Skolnick
Mothers all over the world have admonished their children: “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” It may lose something when translated into some obscure dialects, but the …
How Can The Trump-Cohen Tape Be Public?
7/31/18
By: Greg Fayard
A lawyer and client talk. The lawyer records the conversation. The recording is made public. How can this be?
That’s what happened to then candidate Donald Trump and his New York lawyer Michael Cohen. The conversation occurred …
Let’s Eat Grandma! Punctuation Matters
7/19/18
By: Ted Peters
California Corporations Code Section 1601 provides certain rights to shareholders of corporations doing business in California. Specifically, as the statute currently reads, corporations are required to open their books and records upon written demand from any shareholder …
Insuring Against Rule 68 Offers of Settlement
6/28/18
By: Matt Grattan
One tool defense lawyers in Georgia frequently use to induce settlements is an offer of settlement under O.C.G.A. 9-11-68. Rule 68 allows either party to a tort action to serve a written offer to settle the claim, …