The crime fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege was instituted in reaction to the Watergate scandal of the 1970’s. Observers at the time were shocked how many attorneys were involved in the Watergate mess. It was also surprising at the time how often illegal plans were funneled through lawyers, simply because it was presumed the
I previously talked here about Rudy Giuliani appearing in federal court and being woefully unprepared. He gave some really silly answers to serious questions court about his lawsuit. That should have been an embarrassing performance for an experienced litigator.
Now, a three lawyer committee has found that he violated one or more ethical rules in
Attorney General Ken Paxton is in trouble, again. The AG filed that silly, weak lawsuit in 2020 over Donald Trump’s election loss. The suit lacked any evidence. Some 16 Texas lawyers filed a complaint about that frivolous lawsuit with the Texas Bar Association. Among the many lawyers who joined in filing the complaint are four
In an employment lawsuit, can a lawyer representing an employee contact employees who no longer work for the employer? What if the former employees are former managers? This is important since in most employment cases, the only witnesses are current or former employees.
The answer is yes. The Northern District of Texas so decided in
Every lawyer is like a small business. We can decide when and what to say to judges, clients and opposing lawyers . . . until someone reports our conduct. A New Jersey lawyer learned that lesson the hard way recently. Jared Stolz was disciplined by the New Jersey Supreme Court after he sent emails to
We lawyers do some crazy things. But, when i see escapades like the one in Tampa Bay in movies or on TV, my first reaction is "no way." Well, yes, way. Three lawyers in Tampa Bay are facing ethics charges by the Florida Bar Association because they colluded to get an opposing counsel arrested for
Another example of lawyers behaving badly at depositions. A Florida lawyer, Robert J. Ratiner was sanctioned for his conduct at a deposition. See ABA Journal report. His latest sanction is that he 
cannot attend a deposition alone for the next two years unless the deposition is video taped. As reminder, depositions is the event