LPM Tip
Interrogatories: Direction for ethics queries
You know business ethics is a whole different ball
of wax for attorneys, who are bound by specific jurisdictional
rules. Since the restrictions described in those ethics rules,
especially on the margins, are not often black and white, lawyers
and law firms tend to have lots of fact-specific questions. I know
this, in part, because, at LOMAP, we get a lot of calls related to
attorneys' ethics.
So, where's the best place to go for information? Well, you won't
do much better for authority than the Board of Bar
Overseers/Office of Bar Counsel. Therefore, you should know how
to access what the BBO/OBC has to offer. Your first stop should be
the
Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct and comments, which
are linked from the BBO/OBC's website. From there, there are
further points of clarification made, including an updates/highlights tab, a helpful 'Frequently Asked Questions' section, free trust account trainings and an ethics articles repository, covering a range of
subjects, which articles can be sorted by topic or rule. If you're
still stuck, the BBO/OBC hosts an ethics hotline, which is
accessible between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays at (617) 728-8750. The ethics hotline is
confidential, but the advice given is not binding on the BBO/OBC --
nevertheless, it is useful to speak with the attorneys of the
BBO/OBC, especially as their main focus is to apply the ethics
rules to Massachusetts lawyers. Words from the horse's mouth do not
get more equine than that.
While many attorneys view the BBO/OBC with some level of dread, as
the engine for disbarments, suspensions, and other forms of
discipline, often lost in that perception is the role that the
BBO/OBC plays in preventing malpractice/ethics violations before
they're committed. And, isn't it better to find out ahead of time
if you might be skating on thin ice, rather than after the fact,
potentially through an ethics inquiry?
The Massachusetts Bar Association
also offers ethical guidance to the bar via its Committee
on Professional Ethics, which recently released an opinion on the use of 'cloud' tools by
lawyers.
Tip courtesy of Jared Correia, Law Office Management Assistance
Program.
Published October 18, 2012
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To learn more about the Law Practice Management
Section, which is complimentary for all MBA members,
contact LPM Section Chair Thomas J. Barbar or Vice
Chair Cynthia E.
MacCausland.