How well do you know the California Rules of Professional Conduct, the Business & Professions Code and the State Bar Act? Well enough to avoid these lurking ethical traps?
Unfortunately, many lawyers think that the MPRE is the last time they need to study ethics rules and quite a few attorneys have little or no familiarity with the rules of the ethical road in California. There are many traps for the unwary hiding within those rules – traps that could lead to a malpractice violation or state bar discipline. Join David Carr as he discusses the source of ethical rules in California and ethics traps you need to avoid. The main topics presented and discussed by Mr. Carr include: failing to account for client funds, accounting for unearned advanced fees, accepting fees from third parties without client consent, failing to disclose a lack of malpractice insurance, settling a legal malpractice claim without advice to seek counsel, failing to maintain membership address, seeking agreement to withdraw or not make a state bar complaint, candor toward tribunal and moral turpitude through gross negligence.
David Cameron Carr is Senior Counsel in the Legal Ethics and Law Firm Practice Group of Klinedinst PC. He specializes in legal ethics and the law of lawyering, including discipline defense, bar admissions, attorney fee disputes, legal malpractice, attorney professional responsibility and ethics advice. Mr. Carr graduated from Loyola Law School in 1986 and was admitted to the California Bar that year. After practicing in business litigation and commercial law, Mr. Carr spent 12 years as staff attorney, discipline prosecutor and manager at the State Bar of California, before returning to private practice in 2001 and then joining Klinedinst PC in 2016. He is an active member of the San Diego County Bar Association, where he serves on the Legal Ethics Committee.