Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Ethics

Oct 16, 2013

Mind ethics rules in family disputes, VSB says

Meeting with childIf you represent a parent involved in a case of suspected child neglect or abuse, you may not have the option of interviewing the client’s own son or daughter without other lawyers present.

Sep 16, 2013

Lawyer contributions: Attorneys’ political giving leans to GOP

With Republicans effectively in control of the Virginia governorship and both houses of the General Assembly, lawyers have been leaning to the red side in making political campaign contributions this year. The trend holds even for trial lawyers, often seen as a financial backbone for Democrats. The Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, for instance, donated 61 […]

Apr 29, 2013

Virtual practice: Lawyers hanging a shingle in cyberspace

In Melissa Howell’s employment law practice, she rarely meets with her clients in her Norfolk office space. Instead, her clients prefer to work with her via phone and email or have her come to them, where she can access employment records and interview witnesses. Matthew Kaplan, who practices law out of his home in Arlington, […]

Apr 18, 2013

Specialty ad rules back to status quo

After announcing rule changes that would have barred lawyers from advertising credentials as specialists, then vacating the new rules a day before their effective date last fall, the Supreme Court of Virginia now has published a new set of lawyer advertising rules that preserves the status quo for specialty claims. In the latest set of […]

Apr 10, 2013

Attorneys, marketers hesitate to endorse LinkedIn endorsements

Brian D. Wassom has never done work on mergers and acquisitions. But someone recently endorsed him for the skill on social networking site LinkedIn. A slip-up like that is part of the reason marketing expert Allison C. Shields, president of New York-based Legal Ease Consulting a legal practice management and marketing firm, is “on the […]

Dec 7, 2012

Board certification claims still allowed

Lawyers upset about having to remove board certification credentials from websites and other advertising materials may have prompted the Supreme Court of Virginia to abandon its publicly announced revisions to lawyer advertising rules just two days before they were to take effect. In a Nov. 29 order, the court “vacated and set aside” its Sept. […]

Nov 30, 2012

Supreme Court reconsiders rules on lawyer ads

Just two days before new rules on lawyer advertising in Virginia were scheduled to take effect, the Supreme Court of Virginia abruptly dropped the planned revision. In a Nov. 29 order, the court “vacated and set aside” its Sept. 18 approval of modifications to the lawyer advertising rules. Those modifications were scheduled to take effect […]

Nov 16, 2012

VSB ethics panel scratches 2 LEOs

The Virginia State Bar Legal Ethics Committee has withdrawn two 1990 legal ethics opinions out of concern they might lead lawyers astray in matters involving powers of attorney. The two opinions – LEO 1313 and 1339 – take the view that a law firm hired to prepare a power of attorney is representing the attorney […]

Nov 1, 2012

No sanction for judge’s texts or courtroom visit

A judge’s appearance in the back of a courtroom to support a close personal friend did not violate Virginia’s judicial canons, the Supreme Court of Virginia said today. In a unanimous opinion, the court dismissed a disciplinary complaint against 6th Judicial District Judge Jacqueline R. Waymack, who sits in juvenile and domestic relations courts in […]

Nov 1, 2012

No sanction for judge’s texts or courtroom visit

A judge’s appearance in the back of a courtroom to support a close personal friend did not violate Virginia’s judicial canons, the Supreme Court of Virginia said today. In a unanimous opinion, the court dismissed a disciplinary complaint against 6th Judicial District Judge Jacqueline R. Waymack, who sits in juvenile and domestic relations courts in […]

Oct 18, 2012

Ethics case centers on lawyer’s conflict check

An Eastern Shore lawyer is fighting to overturn a Virginia State Bar admonition for failing to withdraw from representing a divorcing husband after the wife divulged confidential information to his law partner. The case highlights the risk of not having a database for easy conflict checks, even for a small law office.

Oct 2, 2012

Lawyers paying non-lawyer colleagues

Ethics experts and the lawyers they counsel have engaged in a long-running debate about how lawyers can compensate their non-lawyer colleagues. It’s been a contentious issue and a recent decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court highlights the continuing controversy. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held recently that a law firm could pay a paralegal a percentage […]

Verdicts & Settlements

See All Verdicts & Settlements

Opinion Digests

See All Digests