Ken Lawson is the Co-Director of the Hawai’i Innocence Project and an Associate Faculty Specialist at the William S. Richards...
Lawyers Gone Ethical
How do lawyers function in today’s changing legal market without running afoul of the ethics rules? What must lawyers include in their social media profiles and posts? How technologically competent must a lawyer be? How secure must lawyers keep client data? Can lawyers accept credit cards or cryptocurrency? What should lawyers do if they receive a bar complaint? The business of law is constantly evolving. Staying out of trouble requires that lawyers understand the latest interpretations and applications of the ethics rules. It also requires us to figure out what to do when the rules and modern business and technology are not in sync. Join host Megan Zavieh, state bar defense and ethics attorney, and her guests as they discuss today’s most pressing topics and practical tools to help you navigate the ever-changing ethics landscape.
Episodes
December 29, 2020 • 12 mins
We can't end 2020 the way we end most years, with improving office organization and reviewing fee agreements. Rather, this is a year to end with a focus on being kind to ourselves, setting new types of goals, and thinking about intentionally designing the coming year. In this episode, Megan highlights her article recently published on Attorney at Work on what items should be on our year-end checklist.
Thanks for listening!
Don’...
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December 21, 2020 • 20 mins
Thousands of California online bar exam takers were flagged for review, and an untold number of them have received Chapter 6 notices. A Chapter 6 notice essentially accuses the applicant of cheating on the exam. Megan has put together resources to help applicants respond.
Resources Mentioned:
Dropbox folder I put together with resources
Petition to Sign (no monetary donations, please)
Thanks for listening!
Don’t forget to SUBSC...
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December 8, 2020 • 28 mins
George Psiharis joins Megan to talk about the Clio Legal Trends report for 2020, the ongoing release of new information, and how Covid has impacted this important project.
Resources Mentioned:
Guest Info:
Thanks for listening!
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to recei...
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November 3, 2020 • 9 mins
Professor Cat Moon teaches a fantastic class at Vanderbilt Law School called Law as a Business. Megan was honored to be one of the guest speakers recently, and she focused part of her talk on the question, "What is the connection between ethics and the business of law?" This episode answers that question, focusing in large part on the consequences of making ethical errors and also touching on the good business of being ethical.
...
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October 27, 2020 • 11 mins
Professor Cat Moon teaches a fantastic class at Vanderbilt Law School called Law as a Business. Megan was honored to be one of the guest speakers recently, and she focused part of her talk on the question, "What should young lawyers know about ethics and a successful career?" This episode answers that question with three specific things Megan thinks are important.
1. Appreciate the importance of the rules
2. Don't assume those ab...
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October 13, 2020 • 30 mins
Screen addiction impacts most of us, and there's little doubt it has a negative impact. Overuse of screens leads to anxiety, depression, decreased productivity, and more. Its impact is also clear in children. It turns out, it's not entirely our fault that we are so hooked. Apps accessed on screens give us dopamine hits that keep us coming back for more. In this episode, Megan talks about how we get hooked on screens and strategi...
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September 22, 2020 • 32 mins
We know the profession has a mental health crisis. We have serious concerns about bars asking applicants about their mental health. But do we really understand the position these questions can put an applicant in?
In this episode, Megan discusses and (in a first on this show) reads out loud the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky's decision in Doe v. Supreme Court of Kentucky. Doe applied for licensure after ...
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September 8, 2020 • 15 mins
A large number of ethics complaints begin with lawyers taking on more work than they can handle, leading them to miss deadlines, fail to be responsive to clients, and otherwise drop the ball. A booming business seems like a good thing, but too much of a good thing can cause sever...
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September 1, 2020 • 33 mins
A niche, or narrow, law practice might sound risky, but it's actually a fantastic way to build a rewarding practice. Lyndosha Jamison has created a niche for herself that is exciting professionally and financially successful. Join Megan as she interviews Lyndosha to learn how.
Lyndosha Jamison and Megan presented at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago in February 2020 on the topic of building a niche law practice. The session was so popula...
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August 18, 2020 • 17 mins
First, it sounds like the Florida Bar might be listening to this podcast. (Jut kidding, of course.) It issued a proposed advisory opinion allowing out of state lawyers to practice remotely from Florida without UPL repercussions. Read more about solving the "butt in seat" problem here.
Second, applicants to the bar who have any criminal history at all are faced with lots of wrinkles in disclosing their conduct to moral character ...
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August 11, 2020 • 16 mins
There are lots of reasons for lawyers to move from state to state, but when a bar exam gets in the way, it turns into a real pain. Whether you're a military spouse, an in-house lawyer, cultivating a Federal practice, or lucky enough to get reciprocity, Megan talks about how you can move and still practice law. (In this older Attorney at Work article, Megan talked about ways to move without taking an exam.)
Thanks for listening!
...
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July 28, 2020 • 77 mins
Note: This is a replay of our most popular episode - Episode 28
Kenneth Lawson went from running a successful practice in Ohio to having his license revoked because of misconduct while addicted to prescription painkillers. He joins us to share his remarkable journey to redemption.
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July 21, 2020 • 19 mins
The bar exam has gone from traditional end-of-July ritual to a jungle of uncertainty, constantly changing dates and conditions, and total chaos for everyone who intended to take the exam and start their legal career this summer. In an episode geared specifically to those in this situation, Megan talks about some strategies for staying in the know without getting overwhelmed, changing career course if needed, and maintaining perspe...
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July 14, 2020 • 17 mins
Many families will have the kids home this fall, whether by choice or school policies. If you're going to be running your law firm from home in the presence of homeschooled kids, Megan has come up with five things you (and she) can do now to prepare for a smoother road and ethical...
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July 7, 2020 • 38 mins
Bar exams are a rite of passage for attorneys graduating from law school and being sworn in to practice law. But what if the bar exam is not feasible, such as during COVID-19? And what if the bar exam has an incredibly racist history that calls it further into question? And what if there is no empirical evidence that the bar exam has any correlation to an individual's ability to effectively practice law? Jordan Couch is the Chair ...
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June 30, 2020 • 18 mins
In two contexts, lawyers and bar applicants worry about hiring an ethics lawyer. In moral character applications, applicants are often concerned that having a lawyer involved makes it look like they are hiding something. In discipline matters, lawyers express concern that hiring counsel makes them look like they committed misconduct. In truth, having a lawyer's expertise far outweighs any image of guilt that may be created by hir...
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June 23, 2020 • 16 mins
We've been scouring the internet to figure out what lawyers are asking about, and it turns out IOLTAs are a hot topic. In this episode, Megan answers some burning questions about IOLTAs, including:
- Can a firm have an IOLTA?
- Can a lawyer have more than one IOLTA?
- Can an IOLTA be used to send and receive wires?
- How does an attorney handle a check made out to their IOLTA and the client jointly?
She also answers our first li...
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June 16, 2020 • 22 mins
Mental health is tough to tend to, especially as solo and small firm lawyers make a ton of excuses why we cannot be out for even one day. So how do we take a day off that leaves us actually inspired to go back to work and not more stressed than when we left the office? In this episode, Megan shares her story of a recent day off that shed light on some "how to" ideas for taking a mental health day. To read her full story of the day ...
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June 9, 2020 • 13 mins
Good policies and procedures make a law office run ethically, but file destruction is one where a lot of lawyers have questions. How long should we keep files? When does the time period begin to run? How do I let my client know? In this episode, Megan explores these questions and promotes some best practices.
Thanks for listening!
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June 2, 2020 • 31 mins
As teams disperse to remote work environments, the lawyer's duty to supervise takes on new wrinkles. Pennsylvania issued an ethics opinion to help guide us; it brings together past ethics opinions and adds details for today's new world. Kristin Tyler of LawClerk knows plenty about working remotely and supervising remote teams, since the business model relies upon a decentralized workforce. She joins Megan to talk about Pennsylvania...
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