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Ethics

Sep 8, 2023

Kavanaugh predicts ‘concrete steps’ over ethics

CLEVELAND — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told a judicial conference on Thursday he hopes there will be “concrete steps soon” to address recent ethics concerns surrounding the court, but he stopped short of addressing calls for justices to institute an official code of conduct. “We can increase confidence. We’re working on that,” Kavanaugh told […]

Jul 21, 2023

Senate committee backs stronger ethical standards for Supreme Court justices

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court would have to abide by stronger ethics standards under legislation approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It comes in response to recent revelations about donor-funded trips by justices. The bill faced united opposition from Republicans and has little chance to make it through the full Senate. The legislation would set ethics rules for the court and a pro[...]

Apr 21, 2023

Roberts asked to testify on court ethics amid Thomas reports

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Judiciary chairman has invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify next month on ethical standards at the court, a hearing that would undoubtedly focus on business transactions and travel involving Justice Clarence Thomas. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said that there has been a “steady stream of revelations” regarding Supreme Court […]

Oct 18, 2021

Ethics opinion would set rules for departed lawyers’ email accounts 

  Law firms need to keep a departing lawyer’s email account active and monitor and respond to incoming emails for a reasonable period of time, a newly proposed ethics opinion would rule.  Proposed 2021 Formal Ethics Opinion 6, “Departing Lawyer’s Email Account,” published by the North Carolina State Bar Council’s ethics committee at its most recent […]

Aug 16, 2021

Proposed ethics opinion would ban some Google advertising

Two new proposed ethics opinions would prohibit lawyers from participating in certain types of advertising offered by Google that record phone calls between lawyers and potential clients, and from taking possession of photographs portraying a minor engaged in sexual activity, even for the purposes of having the photo entered into evidence in a case. The […]

Feb 4, 2020

Ethics opinion would let lawyers battle bad online reviews

  Attorneys who feel stung by a one-star review are entitled to push back against any negative reviews they receive online, so long as their rebuttal is “proportional and restrained” and doesn’t disclose confidential client information, a newly proposed ethics opinion would rule. Proposed 2020 Formal Ethics Opinion 1, “Responding to Negative Online Reviews,” published […]

Nov 15, 2019

Ethics opinion would bless eyes-only agreements

  A proposed ethics opinion would permit lawyers to accept an opposing counsel’s offer to view certain documents subject to an “attorney eyes only” disclosure restriction without their client’s consent. Proposed 2019 Formal Ethics Opinion 7, published by the North Carolina State Bar Council’s ethics committee at its most recent meeting on Oct. 24, would […]

Feb 7, 2019

Ethics opinion would ban intimate relations between opposing counsel

A proposed ethics opinion published by the North Carolina State Bar Council at its January meeting reads like it could have been ripped from the script of a TV legal drama—what do lawyers need to do if the attorneys on the opposing sides of a case are engaged in a sexual relationship? The real-life practice […]

Aug 10, 2018

Proposed ethics opinions OK one service, nix another

North Carolina attorneys would be allowed to participate in repsight.com, an online service that offers to help lawyers accumulate more positive client reviews, under certain conditions, but would not be allowed to become members of “Lawyers of Distinction,” a private lawyer vanity and marketing company, under two new proposed ethics opinions from the North Carolina […]

Apr 12, 2018

Cooper ethics complaint case sent back to trial court

An attorney who contends that the North Carolina State Bar should have referred an ethics complaint against Gov. Roy Cooper to an independent investigator will not be able to challenge the bar’s failure to do so in state court, the Court of Appeals has ruled. But Raleigh lawyer Gene Boyce will be able to ask […]

Mar 9, 2018

Ethics committee to consider four proposed opinions

The Ethics Committee of North Carolina State Bar Council proposed four new ethics opinions at its first meeting of 2018. The committee will consider adopting the opinions at the next council meeting April 17-20 in Raleigh. The committee did not consider approval of any new opinions at the January meeting. The first proposed opinion would […]

Jun 6, 2016

Firms need to provide new lawyers with clear ethical guidance

Debra A. Squires-Lee and Thomas W. Kirchofer Dolan Media Newswires With summer approaching and the July bar exam looming, law firms are beginning to think about next year’s incoming class of associates. There will be training and mentoring and plenty of work to begin to transform the newest law school graduates from law students into […]

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