About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will review significant legal ethics developments from 2026 and their practical implications for practitioners. The panel will examine recent ABA guidance on engagement agreements and withdrawal, duties to former clients and successor counsel, disclosure of grounds for judicial disqualification, and representing clients with decision-making limitations.
Description
The ABA issued several significant ethics opinions in 2026 addressing issues lawyers may encounter throughout the attorney-client relationship. Recent guidance clarifies counsel's obligations when a representation ends, including what engagement agreements may provide regarding withdrawal and when former counsel must provide information to a former client or successor counsel.
The ABA also addressed a lawyer's duty to disclose information that may require a judge's disqualification. Formal Opinion 522 considers the lawyer's obligation as an officer of the court and the interaction between that obligation and the duty to protect confidential client information. Additionally, in 2026 the ABA revised Model Rule 1.14 and issued Formal Opinion 525, which provides additional guidance on working with clients whose ability to make decisions may be impaired.
Listen as our panel reviews these recent ethics developments and discusses how the new guidance affects attorneys' professional responsibilities and day-to-day practice.
Presented By
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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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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 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
Wednesday, December 16, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. Ending the attorney-client relationship
A. Engagement agreements and withdrawal under Formal Opinion 523
B. Duties to former clients and successor counsel under Formal Opinion 520
II. Judicial disqualification and the lawyer's duty to disclose
A. Formal Opinion 522 and Rule 8.4(d)
B. Disclosure obligations and client confidentiality
III. Representing clients with decision-making limitations
A. Revised Model Rule 1.14 and Formal Opinion 525
B. Client autonomy, accommodations, and protective action
IV. Applying the 2026 ethics guidance in practice
V. Practitioner takeaways
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What may engagement agreements provide regarding client obligations and withdrawal?
- What duties does counsel retain to former clients and successor counsel?
- When must counsel disclose information bearing upon judicial disqualification?
- How does the revised Rule 1.14 affect representing clients with decision-making limitations?
Related Courses
Recent ABA Ethics Opinions: Withdrawal, Former Clients, Judicial Disqualification, and Client Decision-Making
Wednesday, December 16, 2026
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
Litigation Ethics: Candor, Witness Preparation, Discovery, and Evidence
Wednesday, November 18, 2026
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
