A Second Five-Year Retrospective —Part II, Vol. 59, No. 3 RES GESTAE 18 (October 2015) (with Caitlin S. Schroeder)
This is the second of a two-part annotated table of contents of columns published during the second five years of Ethics Curbstone’s ten-year run. Together with last month’s column and A Five Year Retrospective, Vol. 54, [...]
A Second Five-Year Retrospective —Part I, Vol. 59, No. 2 RES GESTAE 28 (September 2015) (with Caitlin S. Schroeder)
Ethics Curbstone first rolled out in the July-August 2005 issue of Res Gestae. It’s been ten years. Thanks for reading. An Introductory Note I continue to hear from readers. It is remains gratifying to know that [...]
Lawyer Advertising and Client File Rights, Vol. 59, No. 1 RES GESTAE 31 (July-August 2015)
Some recent developments on the national stage provide common sense insight into two perennial issues faced by lawyers: lawyer advertising and what file materials lawyers must provide to clients when the lawyer stops representing the client. [...]
Current-Client Conflicts of Interest, Vol. 55, No. 8 RES GESTAE 27 (April 2012)
Almost a year ago I wrote an overview column on conflicts of interest and included a promise of more detailed installments to come. In the meantime my attention was diverted by some shiny objects of an [...]
Ready, Aim, Disclose: Understanding the Power of the Email “Send” Button in Your Law Practice, Vol. 55, No. 7 RES GESTAE 30 (March 2012) (with Jeffrey S. Goens)
A Parable In a small Indiana town, up until a few years ago, the residents felt safe. They trusted one another. They left their homes unlocked, when they were gone; often, even when they were away [...]
Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard: An Appreciation, Reminiscence and Retrospective, Vol. 55, No. 6 RES GESTAE 17 (January-February 2012)
By now, it is old news that Chief Justice Randall Shepard is retiring from the Supreme Court in March of 2012. This will be a time of many expressions of appreciation and admiration for his leadership [...]
Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse by Lawyers, Vol. 55, No. 5 RES GESTAE 31 (December 2011)
I almost stopped writing this column mid-stream because the topic is so difficult and the resolution so unclear—and probably controversial. I decided to write it anyway in hopes that it will generate debate within the bar [...]
Insurance Coverage for Disciplinary Defense, Vol. 55, No. 4 RES GESTAE 35 (November 2011)
It’s going to be one of those bad days. You can tell because you show up at the office to find an envelope in the day’s mail with one of those sickening royal blue return addresses [...]
Fees and Feasibility: Getting Paid, Vol. 55, No. 3 RES GESTAE 19 (October 2011)
The Indiana Supreme Court recently decided two lawyer discipline cases involving attorney fees that should be of great interest to lawyers. Changing the Rules of the Game One of the cases, decided by a brief order [...]
DSK and the Ethics of Criminal Prosecution, Vol. 55, No. 2 RES GESTAE 25 (September 2011)
If you have been alive and sentient over the last several months, you were undoubtedly following the story of the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, known as DSK, on an airplane destined for Paris and subsequent charge [...]
Lawyers and Wellness, Vol. 55, No. 1 RES GESTAE 40 (July-August 2011)
I’m going to highjack my own column this month to write about something seemingly off topic from legal ethics. This issue of Res Gestae features our incoming state bar association president, Erik Chickedantz. In a display [...]
Conflicts of Interest: An Overview, Vol. 54, No. 10 RES GESTAE 27 (June 2011)
Looking back on approximately six years of Ethics Curbstone columns, it occurs to me that I have largely neglected, at least in a systemic way, treatment of the professional responsibility area that touches most frequently on [...]
The Zone of Personal Privacy for Judges and Lawyers, Vol. 54, No. 9 RES GESTAE 27 (May 2011)
I have tended to steer away from judicial ethics—it has not been my professional forté. But a situation developing in California raises very interesting questions about judicial ethics and the line between private and public lives [...]
Choosing Clients Wisely: A Key to Fulfillment in the Practice of Law, Vol. 54, No. 8 RES GESTAE 20 (April 2011)
At the Indiana State Bar Association’s Fourth Conclave on Legal Education held at the I.U. Indianapolis Law School on September 24 and 25, 2010, I had the pleasure of moderating a break-out group entitled “Resiliency in [...]
Fun with Refundability: When Lawyers Owe Their Clients Money, Vol. 54, No. 7 RES GESTAE 24 (March 2011)
The Indiana Supreme Court recently issued a comprehensive opinion on the ethics of various types of attorney fee arrangements. Matter of O’Farrell, 942 N.E.2d 799 (Ind. Feb. 11, 2010). The three common types of arrangements discussed were: fixed [...]
Foreign Lawyer Practice Before Executive Branch Agencies: Recent Developments, Vol. 54, No. 6 RES GESTAE 20 (January/February 2011)
In order to unburden myself from expectations that I would do a top ten professional responsibility stories column every year, I will pass on doing so this year in favor of the following. Foreign Lawyer Administrative [...]
What’s in a Name? The New Restriction on Firm-Like Names, Vol. 54, No. 5 RES GESTAE 31 (December 2010)
One of the more controversial changes imposed by the recent amendments to the lawyer advertising rules relates to the use of law firm-like names by lawyers associated by physical location, but not joined together as a [...]
The Amended Lawyer Advertising Rules, Vol. 54, No. 4 RES GESTAE 39 (November 2010)
On October 14, 2010, the Indiana Supreme Court approved significant and long-awaited amendments to Indiana’s lawyer advertising rules. They can be reviewed in red-line format showing the deletions from and additions to the current rule at: [...]
Listen, Do You Want to Know a Secret? Keeping Client Confidences, Vol. 54, No. 3 RES GESTAE 21 (October 2010)
Disciplinary decisions by the Supreme Court ordering serious sanctions may hold a certain fascination. But the vast majority of lawyers, who genuinely want to comply with ethical obligations, would do better to focus on minor misconduct [...]
Mental State Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, Vol. 54, No. 2 RES GESTAE 23 (September 2010)
An important new law review article and two recent lawyer discipline cases—perplexing when read side by side—present a good opportunity to write about mental state requirements in the Rules of Professional Conduct. The article is Nancy [...]
A Five Year Retrospective, Vol. 54, No. 1 RES GESTAE 15 (July/August 2010)
Ethics Curbstone first rolled out in the July/August 2005 issue of Res Gestae. I occasionally hear from readers. It is gratifying to know that they often agree with me, but I always learn more when readers [...]
Of Telephonic Homophobia and Pigeon-Hunting Misogyny: Some Thoughts on Lawyer Speech, Vol. 53, No. 10 RES GESTAE 22 (June 2010)
Two recent events, one in Indiana and one in Pennsylvania, make this an opportune time to talk about lawyer speech. In Pennsylvania, a lawyer leaving a gun club where a live pigeon shoot had taken place [...]
Electronically Stored Information and Spoliation of Evidence, Vol. 53, No. 9 RES GESTAE 25 (May 2010)
A trio of recent decisions puts discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) and sanctions related to destruction of ESI back in the spotlight. Although these three cases were all in federal court, January 1, 2008 amendments [...]