BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam Live Online with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month February 4, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Ethics and Specialty Credits
  • schedule 90 minutes

Ethical Issues in Cryptocurrency Transactions: Model Rules, Guidance, and Challenges for Counsel

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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will provide lawyers guidance on legal ethics when representing clients involved in the development or use of cryptocurrency. The panel will provide an overview of the mechanics of cryptocurrency, including the legal implementation and methods in structuring digital asset transactions. The panel will also dive into the ethical considerations in cryptocurrency transactions, applicable rules for counsel, fees, escrow accounts, and other key ethical issues involving cryptocurrency.

Description

The legal framework of businesses and operations engaged in the development or use of cryptocurrency is ripe with ethical issues and concerns. Attorneys representing cryptocurrency clients, including those engaged in cryptocurrency transactions, must consider issues pertaining to shifts in federal and state laws, competence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and other ethical risks in representing cryptocurrency clients or related transactions.

Attorneys representing cryptocurrency clients, and the structuring of transactions and related documents, need to address how to identify and manage ethical dilemmas, including issues related to privileged information and potential conflicts between clients.

Listen as our panel discusses applicable rules and provides attorneys a deeper understanding of key ethical challenges in representing cryptocurrency clients as well as provides practical tools for navigating these issues in their practice.

Presented By

Richard W. Painter
S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law
Univ of Minnesota Law School

Professor Painter received his B.A., summa cum laude, in history from Harvard University and his J.D. from Yale University, where he was an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation. Following law school, Professor Painter clerked for Judge John T. Noonan Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and later practiced at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City and Finn Dixon & Herling in Stamford, Conn. He has served as a tenured member of the law faculty at the University of Oregon School of Law and the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was the Guy Raymond and Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Professor of Law from 2002 to 2005. Professor Painter has been the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota Law School since 2007.

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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

    Wednesday, February 4, 2026

  • schedule

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

I. Current state of cryptocurrency regulations

II. Model rules and ethics opinions

III. Attorney-client privilege and confidentiality

IV. Cryptocurrency-specific issues

A. Regulatory oversight; SEC, CFTC, etc.

B. Tax implications

C. Recent developments

The panel will address these and other key considerations:

  • What are the guiding ethical principles in representing clients within the digital currency industry?
  • What are some of the most common ethical challenges encountered in negotiating and drafting contracts?
  • What ethical issues arise when you take an interest in a cryptocurrency startup in lieu of fees?
  • How do you navigate shifting cryptocurrency regulations?
  • What are best practices for safeguarding attorney-client privilege?
  • What are some effective strategies for navigating the tension between zealous advocacy and adhering to ethical obligations in representing cryptocurrency clients, including those involved in digital currency development or use?