A Primer on the Texas Bar Disciplinary System | Seana Willing | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Polsinelli Podcast - Avoiding Professional Liability
Professional liability claims impact a multitude of professions, including those in the legal, medical, financial and insurance industries. Claims for malpractice, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and related...more
You decide you want a divorce, or your spouse tells you they want a divorce. You are served divorce papers from a process server or law enforcement. You want help now. You do not want to wait. Folks dealing with divorce...more
Some conflicts of interest are easy to spot. Most lawyers recognize, for example, that a lawyer cannot act as an advocate in one case against a person the lawyer represents in another case, even if the matters are unrelated. ...more
Brief Summary - Three brothers—Bruce, Brad, and Brian Brandolino (plaintiffs)—held remainder interests in a piece of real property (Property) which their father sold to a bank in 2005. In 2019, plaintiffs sued the...more
The United States District Court for the District of Utah, applying Utah law, has held that a law firm’s representation in its insurance application that it lacked knowledge of any incident, act, error, or omission that could...more
Prospective Clients – Duty of Confidentiality – Potentially Harmful or Disqualifying Information ABA Formal Opinion 492 (June 9, 2020) - Risk Management Issue: When dealing with prospective clients, what steps can a lawyer...more
Join Ulmer attorney Alvin Mathews for a complimentary webinar as he discusses how to meet professional obligations in the midst of and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alvin will review competence, diligence and...more
These days, more employers than ever are purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance (“EPLI”) to cover them in the event they get sued for employment-related claims. (See our earlier posting on that topic: “A Handy...more
In Milligan v. Salamone, the Greenberg Taurig lawfirm represented the bankrupt company when it sued a president and board member. No. 1:18-CV-327-RP, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41009 (W.D. Tex. March 14, 2019). Greenberg drafted...more
I. Why It Matters In recent years, law firms and legal professionals have seen an uptick in the frequency of legal malpractice claims, including significant claims with damages in excess of $50 million. One of the major...more
On June 5, 2017, in an opinion with facts that even the Court seemed to recognize read like the script for a straight-to-video movie, the Second Circuit (Jacobs, Sack, Carney) declined to overturn a defendant’s conviction and...more
Attorney-Client Privilege – Invoices to Public Entity Client – Ongoing Litigation - Los Angeles Cty. Bd. of Supervisors v. Superior Court, 2 Cal. 5th 282, 386 P.3d 773 (2016) - Risk Management Issue: May a law firm's...more
Aiding and Abetting the Unauthorized Practice of Law — Conducting a Due Diligence Background Check for Incoming Lawyers and Lateral Hires - The Case: Kimberly Kitchen began working at BMZ Law PC part-time in 2005. She...more
Conflicts of Interest — Subject Matter Conflicts — Can IP Attorneys Simultaneously Represent Two Clients That Are Prosecuting Patents for Similar Inventions? - Maling v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner,...more
In Fitts v. Richards-Smith, three brothers were riding in a car when the car hit another vehicle properly stopped in the road. 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 1542 (Tex. App.—Texarkana February 17, 2016, no pet. history). The driver was...more
Attorneys are human. They make mistakes. However, how an attorney responds to a mistake may be more important than the mistake itself. In the face of potential civil liability, sanctions or disciplinary proceedings, care...more
The number of lawsuits against trust, probate and estate planning attorneys has significantly increased over the last several years. Today, trust, probate and estate planing attorneys are charged with legal malpractice and...more
Simultaneous representation by a law firm in the prosecution of patents for two clients for similar inventions is not a per se violation of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct. On December 23, in Chris E....more
On December 23, 2015, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a legal malpractice suit finding that, “simultaneous representation by a law firm in the prosecution of patents for two...more
Clearly, client-driven litigation and malpractice complaints against patent practitioners are not decreasing any time soon. During the investigation surrounding the suit or complaint, the actions or inactions of the patent...more
Novel theories by plaintiffs’ lawyers need to foster novel approaches by M&A lawyers. A number of recent cases highlight the increasing risks for financial advisors and the lawyers who represent them. Financial...more
The recent New York case of Lichtenstein v. Willkie Farr addresses a borrower's conflict caused, in part, by a loan covenant. The covenant invoked personal liability of the members in the event the entity files a voluntary...more