July 7 - Members and Subscribers - Welcome to the new and improved abi.org! - If you have not already done so, please reset your ABI password to access the site. Click "Login" and then "Forgot Password"
AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT clearly have the potential to become useful tools in a lawyer’s toolbox. Of course, lawyers using AI chatbots, like lawyers using any other tools, must be mindful of their ethical obligations, including not only the duty to verify the accuracy of the results of legal research, but also the duty to maintain client confidentiality. In considering what client information can be used in prompting a chatbot, Rule 1.6 of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides guidance, but not a bright-line rule.
This panel will focus on disputes regarding engagement as counsel and payment of fees. The panel will cover such issues as unbundling of services, bifurcated fee arrangements and conflicts of interest. The panelists also will discuss a number of ethical issues that have arisen in recent cases.
Thomas (“Tom”) Girardi, a former plaintiff’s attorney in Los Angeles, California, and the founder of the law firm Girardi & Keese (d/b/a Girardi Keese), was once known as the inspiration behind the film “Erin Brockovich” and for his high-profile representation of the families of victims of the Lion Air crash in 2018. Over the last two years, however, his career has served a different purpose — a case study in legal ethics.
Lateral movement among law firm partners and associates has boomed. In 2020, the number of associates moving firms was up 149% and the number of partners moving was up almost 43%. [1] In 2021, the number of lawyers switching firms was up 111% over 2020. [2] And the lateral market for bankruptcy lawyers is no stranger to the boom, despite bankruptcy filings having sat at record low numbers over the past few years. [3]
From its inception, the National Ethics Task Force [1] was charged with answering the question of whether there is a need for national ethics rules, standards and general practice guidance in the bankruptcy context.
The Ethics and Professional Compensation Committee had an active 2021, and we are excited to carry that energy into 2022.
Last year, the committee paired with the Mediation Committee at the Annual Spring Meeting to put on When Mediation Gets Messy: Ethical Dilemmas. This panel addressed hypothetical mediation scenarios, including situations raising difficult ethics questions. The panel was well attended and enjoyed by all.
Bankruptcy courts have not always favored post-petition retainers to debtor’s counsel. [1] But does the Bankruptcy Code prohibit them? That is exactly the question Judge David D. Cleary answered in In re Golden Fleece Beverages Inc., in which he held that the Code indeed supports post-petition retainers. [2]
