News & Insights

The October column highlights, yet again, the perils of social media in the legal profession. By highlighting a recent medical malpractice case from Orange County, California where a lawyer and his firm took to Instagram to tout a victory in a video post, which also featured the lawyer making remarks that later ended up in opposing counsel’s hands, leading the court to grant a new trial. Read about the avoidable turn of events and see why one should re-think a victory dance on social media.

This month’s column discusses the intent of the ABA’s Resolution 402, which passed in August, reaffirming the ABA’s disapproval of the sharing of legal fees with non-lawyers as was established by ABA Model Rule 5.4. The August action comes shortly after an Arizona’s task force identified ER 5.4 as a barrier to innovation in the delivery of legal services and repealed the Rule to allow legal practices to experiment with alternative business models (including the utilization of non-lawyers) in the hopes that increased efficiencies will reduce the cost of legal services. Read about what’s likely behind the Rule, and what’s happening as Arizona experiments with its repeal.