BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE course will review when personal injury attorneys may be obligated to provide guidance before settlement on non-litigation issues such as tax, government benefits, and other issues. While attorneys can ethically narrow the scope of their representation, doing so requires "informed consent." The program will discuss ethical considerations for lawyers who wish to limit their scope and make compliant referrals to professionals who can address these specialized issues.

Faculty

Description

A settlement impacts a plaintiffs' taxes, financial stability, and government benefits eligibility. Trial lawyers face an evolving duty of care to address these issues.

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2(c) allows a lawyer to narrow their scope upon "informed consent." Like requesting a conflicts waiver, there are substantive steps to obtain that "informed consent." This webinar will discuss those steps, the issues to watch for in your representations, and how to compliantly refer clients to professionals.

Listen as the experienced panel discusses how to satisfy your ethical obligations to plaintiffs, properly narrow your scope of representation, and compliantly refer to a specialist--all to increase the net present value of your client's recovery.

Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. How non-litigation issues can reduce net settlement value
  3. Limiting representation under Model Rule 1.2
  4. Ensuring informed consent
  5. Making compliant client referrals to subject matter experts

Benefits

The panel will review these and other pivotal issues:

  • What are the ethical duties of trial lawyers to help clients with non-litigation issues?
  • When and how should clients involve advisers with specialized knowledge/experience?
  • What are the most critical tax, finance, and benefits issues in personal injury cases?
  • How can counsel ethically narrow their scope of representation?
  • Most importantly, how can ethical compliance increase net settlement value?