• videocam On-Demand Webinar
  • card_travel Ethics and Specialty Credits
  • schedule 90 minutes

Drafting Client Engagement Agreements: Legal Ethics Considerations for Counsel

Leveraging the Agreement to Defend Against Disciplinary Actions and Malpractice Claims

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE course will guide attorneys regarding engagement agreements with their clients. These agreements can help avoid costly disputes down the line regarding the scope of representation, fees, conflicts of interests, and many other aspects of the attorney-client relationship. Familiarity with the ethics rules regarding such agreements is a must.

Description

A meticulous attorney always advises clients to reduce oral agreements to writing. However, some attorneys do not heed this advice when it comes to memorializing the terms of client representation. Failure to secure a written engagement can create ambiguity and tension in the attorney-client relationship. The worst-case scenario is messy malpractice litigation. Despite the importance of such agreements, no one ethical rule contains simple guidelines for their drafting.

The engagement agreement should clearly state the financial terms of the representation: hourly, flat rate, contingency, or otherwise. The agreement should address when payment is due, the consequences of nonpayment, and the retainer and its application. Attorneys and firms must give special attention to matters relating to clients involved in any way in the cannabis business.

The engagement letter should specify the scope of representation, so it is clear to both parties what the client hired counsel to do, disclose any potential conflicts, and set the standards for future conflicts.

Listen as our authoritative panel reviews, in detail, the legal and ethical constraints regarding the terms of an engagement agreement to include discussions on client identification, scope, file retention, and more. Additionally, attendees will benefit from an analysis of using these agreements to defend against malpractice claims and disciplinary proceedings.

Presented By

A. Neil Hartzell
Partner
Freeman Mathis and Gary, LLP

Mr. Hartzell is a Partner in Freeman Mathis & Gary’s Boston and Providence offices. He serves as Chair of the firm's Intellectual Property practice team and as Vice-Chair of the firm's Media practice team. Mr. Hartzell is a trial and appellate lawyer and has extensive experience in a broad range of matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation including commercial disputes, construction, Anti-trust, class actions, false claims act and state whistleblower, eminent domain litigation, real estate, securities litigation and investigations, FINRA proceedings, directors and officers, business torts, trade secrets, copyright, trademark, patent, civil RICO, insurance coverage, including environmental and bad faith claims, medical device litigation, contract actions, civil rights, aviation, workplace and employment related matters, including discrimination claims, ERISA, construction, and environmental including Chapter 21E and CERCLA claims, banking litigation, creditors and debtors in bankruptcy proceedings, claims involving accountants, attorneys, design professionals as well as governmental investigations. Mr. Hartzell has represented parties in zoning and permitting matters, and parties in loan workouts, including forbearance agreements, loan sales, related litigation and bankruptcy.

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David Lefkowitz
Attorney
The Lefkowitz Firm, LLC

Mr. Lefkowitz has been handling Atlanta legal malpractice claims for 25+ years. Several years ago, he was invited to be an Adjunct Professor at UGA School of Law, where he teaches legal malpractice law, ethics and risk management. Mr. Lefkowitz handles claims on behalf of multi-national, publicly traded companies, small businesses and individuals, all having been significantly damaged by the errors or omissions of their lawyers. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and his law degree from the Emory University School of Law. Mr. Lefkowitz carries the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell (AV) which is given only to those attorneys with the highest legal ability and adherence to professional standards of conduct, ethics, reliability and diligence. 

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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.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Thursday, November 11, 2021

  • schedule

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

  1. Important provisions
    1. Client identification
    2. Scope of engagement
    3. Terms of payment
    4. Staffing concerns
    5. Conflicts
    6. File and documentation retention
  2. Special considerations regarding cannabis
  3. Defending disciplinary proceedings
  4. Defending malpractice claims

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • Understanding which ethical rules apply when drafting client engagement agreements
  • Determining the types of provisions to include in engagement agreements and the impact of legal ethics rules
  • Leveraging the use of client engagement agreements to mitigate or resolve client complaints, grievances, disciplinary proceedings, and malpractice claims
  • Drafting client agreements to proactively avoid client complaints and using lessons from others' mistakes