Legal Ethics

[This blog originally appeared as an article in the July 2020 Bench & Bar of Minnesota.  Added near the end of the article is a paragraph describing a Minnesota Supreme Court discipline case decided July 1, 2020.] Who in your law firm is responsible ...

On June 3, 2020, the ancient doctrine of champerty was abolished in Minnesota. [i]   Champerty’s life span was 123 years in Minnesota, but champerty’s lineage extended to medieval England, and even to ancient Rome and Greece. [ii]   Although Minnesota ...

Sometimes a client, having retained attorney A on a contingent fee agreement, discharges A and retains B, from another law firm, on a contingent fee agreement.  Attorney A will normally claim entitlement to a portion of any recovery made by the client.  ...

A familiar legal ethics maxim is, “We all make mistakes.  What matters is what we do next.”  All too many attorneys have turned manageable problems into catastrophes by refusing to recognize errors or trying to cover them up.  Other attorneys have corrected ...

New ABA Formal Opinion 19-489 is titled, “Obligations Related to Notice When Lawyers Change Firms.”  Op. 489 discusses obligations, of both law firms and departing lawyers, to treat each other fairly, and to put client interests first.  The opinion also ...