Legal Ethics

Expert Analysis

• Lenders Score Major High Court Victory In Foreclosure Case

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling on Wednesday in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP removes nearly all activities taken by creditors seeking nonjudicial foreclosure of liens and mortgages from the ambit of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, says John Baxter of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

• Tech Trends From SXSW Pose Unique Questions For Lawyers

  

  These days, a popular theme in media is that lawyers' jobs will be taken by robots. However, based on the tech issues discussed at the South by Southwest technology conference in Austin, Texas, last month, robots may in fact need lawyers, says Nick Abrahams of Norton Rose Fulbright.

• In Bar Admissions Process, It's Candor Or Bust

  

  You passed the bar exam and are ready for the character and fitness committee interview. Time to think about how to discuss that minor incident in college, that misdemeanor in high school or that mental health issue that you have totally under control, says Richard Maltz of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Bashant Reviews 'Doing Justice'

  

  My initial reaction to "Doing Justice" was that author Preet Bharara may have bitten off more than he could chew — an accusation leveled against him when he served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — but I found the book full of helpful gems, says U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant of the Southern District of California.

• Firms Can Leverage Communications When Economy Is Slow

  

  Though most experts believe that an imminent recession is unlikely, slowdown fears are increasing. Now is the time for firms to consider how to best leverage their communications and marketing teams to lessen impacts from a potential economic slowdown, says Tom Orewyler of Tom Orewyler Communications LLC.

• Ethical Social Media Marketing For Lawyers

  

  Social media presents rich opportunities to reach prospective clients. Attorneys should not let those opportunities pass them by, but they should keep their ethical obligations in mind as they post, says Cort Sylvester of Nilan Johnson Lewis PA.

• Q&A

  A Chat With Norton Rose Diversity Director Nina Godiwalla

  

  In this monthly series, Amanda Brady of Major Lindsey & Africa interviews management from top law firms about the increasingly competitive business environment. Here we feature Nina Godiwalla, director of diversity and inclusion at Norton Rose Fulbright.

• How 9th Circ. Approaches 'Related Claims' Insurance Disputes

  

  Two recent Ninth Circuit decisions concerning errors and omissions professional liability insurance demonstrate that when construing "related claims" provisions, the court tends to favor close analysis of facts and policy language over broad standards or tests, say Nicholas Maxwell and Diana Gliedman of Anderson Kill PC.

• 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make When Responding To RFPs

  

  More and more corporations are now using requests for proposals to make data-driven decisions about which law firms to work with, so it is more important than ever for law firms to avoid common RFP mistakes, says Matthew Prinn of RFP Advisory Group.

• Wadler V. Bio-Rad Poses Noteworthy Whistleblower Questions

  

  Wadler v. Bio-Rad Labs — where the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed most of an $11 million jury verdict in favor of Sanford Wadler, the company's former general counsel — illustrates the unique and unusually significant risks presented by whistleblower retaliation claims from corporate gatekeepers, say Steve Pearlman and Pinny Goldberg of Proskauer Rose LLP.