A Greensboro attorney employed by an interstate law firm that was working under a contract with the federal government was still subject to North Carolina’s Rules of Professional Conduct and had an obligation to adequately supervise his non-attorney staff, the ...

Tagged with: Censure Rules Of Professional Conduct

Law Offices of Peter H. Priest, PLLC v. Coch (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-15-1049, 18 pp.) (James Gale, Ch. J.) 2014 NCBC 54 Holding: When the plaintiff-law firm entered into a business transaction with the defendant-clients, the firm’s owner may have ...

Tagged with: Rules Of Professional Conduct

Every once in a while, I hear an attorney proclaim that he or she scrupulously follows the Rules of Professional Conduct. While this is important and admirable in our cynical day and age, I can’t help but chuckle when I hear it.

Tagged with: Rules Of Professional Conduct

Inland American Winston Hotels, Inc. v. Winston. An ethics professor who has no experience in commercial real estate and who has never been licensed to practice in North Carolina is not qualified to testify as to the standard of care applicable to the . . .

Tagged with: Attorneys Breach of Fiduciary Duty Legal Malpractice Rules Of Professional Conduct standard of care Tort/Negligence

Concerns over a proposal to add controversial nondiscrimination language to the preamble of the Rules of Professional Conduct occupied the State Bar's Ethics Committee at its recent quarterly meeting in Pinehurst. Michael Robinson (pictured) sought to clarify that the language would be merely aspirational.

Tagged with: N.C. State Bar nondiscrimination Rules Of Professional Conduct

The Ethics Committee of the State Bar considered a controversial amendment to the preamble to the Rules of Professional Conduct at its quarterly meeting late last week in Pinehurst. The original amended language provided that a lawyer, "[w]hile employed in a professional capacity ... should avoid knowingly manifesting through word or deed or bias or prejudice based upon a person's race, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status or other protected status or personal characteristic." Alice Mine (pictured) serves as ethics counsel for the State Bar. [...]

Tagged with: anti-discrimination discrimination N.C. State Bar Rules Of Professional Conduct Sex Discrimination

Justices say trial judge properly revoked pro hac vice status

Tagged with: expert witnesses Pro Hac Vice Products Liability Rules Of Professional Conduct Supreme Court

North Carolina State Bar v. Hunter. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0521, 24 pp.) (Linda M. McGee, J.) Appealed from the Disciplinary Hearing Committee of the N.C. State Bar. N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: The defendant’s use of the moniker “Madame Justice” constituted ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Ethics N.C. State Bar Rules Of Professional Conduct

Cloud-computing applications, or “software as a service,” are widely touted as being flexible, efficient and cost-cutting tools for managing a legal practice. But does a lawyer’s use of these web-based applications run the risk of compromising the privacy and security ...

Tagged with: cloud computing Ethics Ethics Committee Ethics Opinion Rules Of Professional Conduct