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

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Mark Hinderks brings decades of experience as a trial lawyer, firm general counsel, and managing partner. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has presented more than 125 programs on legal ethics over 30 years.

Mark is the co-founder of "Ethics for Good," a twice-annual stage show that uses humor and real-world scenarios to teach legal ethics, raising approximately $850,000 for charities and scholarships since 2000. He has chaired the American College of Trial Lawyers' National Standing Committee on the Attorney Client Relationship and has been a member of the Kansas Bar Association's Professional Ethics Advisory Committee since 1997.

Have a question for a future column? Submit it to mark.hinderks@stinson.com.

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, You have been telling us for years that we have to check the version of the Model Rules in effect wherever we are admitted, or where a case or transaction is, where we are proposing to do various things, or where our client is, i.e., that the rules are often different in different states. I’ve got that. But how do we know, when the rules are different between two states, which state’s law applies? If they are inconsistent in a way that means we can’t comply with both, are we simply up the proverbial creek without an ethical paddle? Is there any guidance out there?

Continue Reading November 15 Issue – Choice of Law