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Time Warp: Martindale run off the information highway

Back before the internet-thingy, when there were phone books and other massive byproducts of the paper industry that had to be housed in shelves, tended by non-billable law librarians, and sheltered in...

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Paper Chase: Winning your case may just be the first lap around the legal system

Sometimes when you win a case, your problems are just beginning, not coming to a close.  One way that can happen is if you get a judgment to collect money from someone who either doesn’t have it (and...

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Hurricane Warning: Lawyers found among debris left behind by Sandy

Though its days appear to be numbered thanks to the internet, there’s a cottage industry of organizations, including most bar associations, who make money by sponsoring meetings for lawyers.  As you’ll...

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Who’s Guarding Us From The Guardians?: Lawyer-guardians paying themselves...

A common complaint we receive about lawyers and their fees involves fees charged by lawyers who are acting as guardians or otherwise involved in a guardianship, such as legal counsel to the nominal...

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Clients Gone Wild: ABA claims clients are rushing to pay ever higher rates...

This little bit of nonsense comes from the trade association for lawyers, which is apparently unaware of how the legal biz actually works.  An arbitrary, but not statistically relevant, small sample of...

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Block Heads: Reading a law doesn’t qualify you to give advice about it

The legal services monopoly often creates a shortage of affordable, reliable legal advice because bar organizations and lawyers hamstring workable alternatives that are designed to fill needs that...

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No Suspense: US Supreme Court assumes the legal system is rigged

Class actions are supposed to be an efficient way to resolve legal problems that would otherwise slip through the cracks in the legal system or overwhelm the system with a multitude of smaller but...

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Lying Still: Is the legal system corrupted more by official perjury or by the...

As we’ve noted before, lawyers are required to show respect for the legal system and not rock the boat — on pain of losing their license to practice law or being punished for ethics violations by state...

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Semi-Lawyer Scam: Law firms pass cheap lawyers off as the real thing

A recent dispute over legal fees in a half-billion dollar Citigroup class action — fallout from the Wall Street crash — has shed light on how some law firms are using temporary or contract staff to...

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Educational Experience: Judges getting schooled by private interests

A new report tracks federal judges who are paid, or more likely just reimbursed, to attend various “educational seminars” with transparent political agendas. A nonprofit group’s research has restoked...

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Shipping & Handling: Beware of lawyers bearing gifts

Lawyers aren’t trendsetters when it comes to marketing and public relations methods.  It used to be unethical to do very much advertising — on the theory, I suppose, that lawyers would mislead the...

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Feudal State: Bankruptcy “king” challenges legal fees

To give you some idea why no progress is being made in controlling legal fees in bankruptcy, here’s an account from a recent conference of how the self-professed “King” of bankruptcy proposes to...

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Mixed Message: Bar spanks lawyer for $6 million fee bump, side-stepping $14...

Legal Fee Ethics Enforcement Mechanism Although there is an ethics rule prohibiting unreasonable fees (or some variation on that term) in all US jurisdictions, this provision is rarely enforced by bar...

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MIA: Is your lawyer missing in action, with your money?

Here’s an example of the sort of basic mistakes lawyers make that can get them into ethics trouble.  Note that the common thread is that client money was entrusted to the lawyer, either from a...

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Daddy Issues: Bar’s Freudian urges curbed

The Arizona Bar is supposed to protect the citizens of Arizona from bad lawyers.  When lawyers are suspended for periods of time, the bar typically tacks on various preconditions the lawyer must meet...

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Borderline Blackmail: Lawyers making immigration threats for leverage

Some lawyers will do anything to win, including blackmailing employees who are considering filing a claim against their employers.  (The lawyers represent the employers.)  Apparently the issue comes up...

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Take The 5th, Please: Judge suspended for jailing lawyer invoking 5th Amendment

With all the clamor these days about government officials exercising their right to remain silent when asked potentially incriminating questions by Congress, it’s important to note how short and...

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Home Court Advantage: To arbitrate or not to arbitrate, that’s a tough question

Arbitration is supposed to be more efficient — quicker and cheaper — than court litigation.  When courts are overloaded with criminal cases and smaller civil cases, arbitration is supposed to be a...

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Divorced From Accountability: High-flying pillar of the bar finally disbarred

Bar authorities are supposed to be policing the legal profession, to protect clients from unethical and illegal conduct by its own members.  As I’ve noted in other posts, however, the bars are often...

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Correlate This: Non-rampant unethical behavior ascribed to old age, Great...

Jumping to headline-grabbing conclusions based on thin evidence is what keeps the news media going.  Every time someone crashes a car it’s got to be put into the hot topic of the day, like distracted...

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