BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Ethics

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, May 23, 2023

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

  • An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.

$197.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will prepare law firms and practitioners for legal ethics issues that arise when an attorney leaves one firm for another firm. The panel will discuss critical topics such as client communications, work-product disputes, and conflicts facing the attorney and the new firm.

Faculty

A. Neil Hartzell
Partner
Freeman Mathis and Gary, LLP

Mr. Hartzell has extensive experience in a broad range of matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation including commercial disputes, real estate, securities litigation and investigations, directors and officers, business torts, trade secrets, IP, insurance coverage, class actions, contract actions, aviation, and workplace and employment related matters.

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David Lefkowitz
Principal
The Lefkowitz Firm LLC, LLC

Mr. Lefkowitz represents individuals and companies (corporations, LLCs, PCs, etc.) in their claims for legal malpractice (legal negligence) and similar claims such as breach of fiduciary duty; trustee misconduct; executor misconduct and ethical misconduct by attorneys and other fiduciaries. He also represents attorneys and law firms with regard to risk management, law firm dissolutions and attorney’s fee disputes.

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Geri S. Krauss
Managing Member
Krauss PLLC, PLLC

Ms. Krauss is a respected litigator and recognized expert on complex issues relating to professional partnerships. She counsels lawyers in disputes involving partners, employees and their firms, as well as negotiates and litigates such disputes. She often speaks and authors on lateral hiring and wrote Partner Departures and Lateral Moves: A Legal and Ethical Guide (ABA 2009).

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Description

An attorney's transition from one firm to another is fraught with ethical pitfalls for the attorney and the firms. Legal ethics rules present some challenges regarding the attorney's and the firm's obligations to clients, including notice to clients and business solicitation.

Disputes often arise between a departing attorney and a firm over whether clients will stay with the firm or go with the departing attorney. Both parties may also have opposing claims on client contact information, document templates, and other non-client work product.

An attorney changing firms must communicate some client information to the new firm for conflict review. The ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics issued Formal Opinion 09-455 to guide the timing and scope of disclosures and how the new firm may use the information received.

Listen as our authoritative panel guides you through the myriad legal ethics issues presented when an attorney leaves one firm for another firm and offers approaches to avoid ethical pitfalls during the transition process.

Outline

  1. Notice and communication
    1. Notice by departing attorney to the firm
    2. Notice by departing attorney to clients
    3. Notice by the law firm to clients
    4. Post-notice communications with clients
    5. Attorney solicitation of clients
  2. Property of firm vs. departing attorney
    1. Client files
    2. Attorney work-product
    3. Client contact information
  3. The obligation of departing attorney and new firm
    1. Conflict-check obligation by the new firm
    2. Disclosure of client information to a new firm
    3. ABA Formal Opinion 09-455: Disclosure of Conflicts Information When Lawyers Move Between Firms

Benefits

The panel will review these and other critical issues:

  • What notice should a departing attorney and law firm provide clients--and how and when should this notice be given?
  • What actions should a law firm avoid after giving clients notice that an attorney is leaving the firm?
  • What rules govern a departing attorney's solicitation of clients from the former firm?
  • Is a departing attorney permitted to retain client contact information from a mobile device provided and paid for by the former firm?
  • What must an attorney disclose to the new firm about former clients--and how may the new firm use this information?