Description
Practicing law is a complex balancing act between providing sound professional judgment on the legal issues presented in a case and being a zealous advocate for the client while also staying on the right side of ethics rules. Ethical challenges are an inherent part of legal practice and new attorneys are at higher risk of making mistakes because they lack the experience and knowledge to identify and understand common issues and how to avoid them or address them when they occur.
Some of the most common ethical issues facing new attorneys include failing to communicate with clients, maintaining and protecting client confidentiality, missing deadlines, improperly contacting the opposing party or the court, mishandling client trust accounts, failing to adequately supervise law clerks and other support staff, and accepting meritless cases.
Another difficult situation for new attorneys is when they act on the advice or direction of a supervising attorney that may result in an ethics rule violation. New attorneys need to understand their ethical obligations and responsibilities under these circumstances and how to navigate any fallout from their actions.
Listen as our authoritative speaker explores fact patterns that commonly present ethics problems for new attorneys and provides practice tips for avoiding missteps as well as approaches to take when mistakes are made.
Presented By
Ms. Bovitz is a shareholder, trial lawyer, and associate general counsel at Bassford Remele, with decades of experience as a trial and appellate lawyer. Jennifer has demonstrated success in serious criminal, complex civil and appellate matters. She has successfully obtained full defense verdicts on behalf of healthcare clients as well as dismissals of regulatory complaints. Ms. Bovitz litigates and serves as trial counsel in medical and legal malpractice cases in addition to representing professionals in regulatory matters before the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Board on Judicial Standards, and all health licensing Boards. As a former prosecutor, she gained significant jury trial experience prosecuting serious felonies. In addition to her criminal and civil litigation and trial experience, Ms. Bovitz is an experienced ethics lawyer who served as a Managing Attorney at the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility where she investigated and litigated attorney discipline and reinstatement matters. She is a frequent CLE presenter and ethics columnist and has served as adjunct faculty at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
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This 60-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.0 CLE credits.
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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.
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Date + Time
- event
Monday, December 16, 2024
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
I. Overview: common ethical issues and traps new attorneys face
II. Exploring fact patterns to identify and understand common ethical dilemmas and strategies to avoid them
III. Responsibility of a new or subordinate lawyer who acts under the direction of a more senior lawyer in the firm
IV. Knowing when not to take a case or client and how to decline representation
V. What to do if you make a mistake
VI. Recent hot topics in legal ethics to be aware of
VII. Key takeaways
The panelist will address these and other key issues:
- What are common ethical traps new attorneys face and how can they be avoided?
- What should a new attorney do when they identify a potential ethics issue?
- What steps should an attorney take if they realize they have made a mistake?
- What are recent hot topics in legal ethics that warrant attention?
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