BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Personal Injury and Med Mal

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, August 21, 2025

  • 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 discuss under what circumstances personal injury attorneys may be obligated to provide pre-settlement advice on non-litigation issues such as tax liability or government benefits, and how lawyers who wish to avoid giving these types of advice may ethically (1) limit the scope of their engagement to exclude those topics, and (2) make compliant referrals to other qualified professionals whose practice it is to address these specialized issues. The program provides 90 minutes of ethics credit. There is no CPE credit for this course.

Description

A settlement impacts a plaintiff's taxes, financial stability, and government benefits eligibility. Over the course of representation, trial lawyers face an evolving duty of care to address these very specialized issues.

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2(c) allows a lawyer to narrow their scope of representation if the client gives "informed consent." Like requesting a conflicts waiver, there are substantive steps that must be taken to obtain that "informed consent." If the trial lawyer does not intend to offer advice on non-litigation matters, they may wish to refer the client to trusted advisers. Again, there are specific requirements, as well as best practices, for referring clients to other 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

I. Introduction

II. How non-litigation issues can reduce net settlement value

III. Limiting representation under Model Rule 1.2

IV. Ensuring informed consent

V. 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?