Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, My firm has represented a wealthy family in estate planning matters for many years. In addition, for at least 25 years, the firm has represented a business owned by family members in a variety of general business matters for which time has been billed to a general file in the company’s name. The business has been in decline, and time was last billed to the company’s general file about a year ago, but the general file has never been closed. Can the firm now undertake an action adverse to the company if the substance of the action has nothing to do with any prior representation?
Continue Reading February 15 Issue – Conflicts of Unclosed “General Files”The twice-monthly “Dear Ethics Lawyer” column is part of a training regimen of the Legal Ethics Project, authored by Mark Hinderks, former managing partner and counsel to an AmLaw 200 firm. Read More
2023
January 17 Issue – Representing an Organization
By Mark Hinderks on
Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I am an in-house lawyer for a privately held construction company that has recently completed a successful private placement. The CFO came to me with a problem. Shortly before the private offering memorandum was finalized, he received a report from the team on a large international project, labeled as “Preliminary” but indicating that progress was outstanding and projecting substantial profits. The CFO provided the report to the CEO without the “Preliminary” label. Conclusions from the report were used in the offering memorandum.
The CFO says he knew there was some risk in doing this, but also knew the company needed the private offering to be successful and did not believe that the results would materially change. It now appears that those results had been substantially overstated to coincide with our compensation schedule and to pump up bonuses of project management leadership. The CFO says that given a little time the project may well be managed to profitability and an on-time completion. But, he is concerned that he may be fired or exposed to liability and wants my advice as to how he can best stay out of hot water. What are my ethical obligations here?
January 3 Issue – Publishing Information about Client Represenation
By Mark Hinderks on
Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, As 2023 begins, I’ve reflected on the fact that I’ve represented some bizarre people and dysfunctional companies over the years, and I’ve got some great stories. If I wrote a book about some of these stories (juicing them up just a bit) I’d be able to pay for my retirement and enhance my reputation as a really successful lawyer.
I know I shouldn’t breach client confidences, but the longest statute of limitation and the statute of repose in my state are both ten years, and some of my stories are about people who are now dead or who are no longer with their corporate clients. What if I only use stories that (a) are from over ten years ago; (b) involve dead people who probably no longer care, (c) involve people who are no longer with a corporate client; or (d) are total fabrications?