Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 179: Listen and Learn -- Professional Responsibility: Competence
Following in the footsteps of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the state bars of California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, the American Bar Association has weighed in on attorneys' ethical use of...more
The Cozen Lens- •Last month’s debate shone a spotlight on President Biden’s age and fitness for office, shifting focus away from former President Trump’s controversies, at least for now. •Arguably the most important...more
Join our CLE webinar, "Ethics, Cybersecurity & Data Protection: Mastering Competent Representation," as we explore reasonable steps needed for lawyers to comply with the duty of providing competent representation. Dive into...more
In May 2023, Steven Schwartz of Levidow, Levidow & Oberman admitted that he used a generative AI (GAI) platform to produce six non-existent court decisions as citations during his representation in a personal injury case...more
Law professor and electronic evidence expert Craig Ball reflects on the challenge of achieving attorney competence in electronic discovery and digital evidence, exploring ways the justice system might bridge the Digital...more
1. SUMMARY OF INSIGHTS SO FAR. A scientist and tech lawyer impressions of ChatGPT, with emphasis on how it may impact the law going forward. a. RL - "These are ALMOST the Droids we’ve been looking for!" (i) Impressed by...more
The emergence of ChatGPT comes with tremendous promise of increased automation and efficiency. But at what cost? In this blog post, we’ll explore the potential ethical time bomb of using ChatGPT and examine the responsibility...more
Every law school graduate understands the importance of competence in the practice of law. It is not only essential to client service but a mandatory requirement under professional rules of responsibility. Recently, several...more
Background - In August 2022, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a policy statement titled “[s]trengthening our financial promotion rules for high-risk investments and firms approving financial...more
Ethics and Technology Credits You'll Enjoy, PLUS Mental Well Being & Resilience Strategies You Can Use! Don’t worry, this is not just ANOTHER program about the impact of the pandemic on the practice of law. We have all...more
This CLE program will explore competence issues in the context of the aging attorney population. While mental and physical issues impacting the elderly population are very common, few CLE programs discuss them in the context...more
We all know that there are Federal and State rules that govern how eDiscovery is conducted, but legal professionals need examples to illustrate how the rules should be applied, and what NOT to do. This webinar will use actual...more
Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! Today, we're tackling Competence - an issue that comes up in many California bar essays on Professional Responsibility. In this episode, we discuss: >The ABA and California...more
On eDiscovery Today, I engaged in a follow up discussion on my TAR series (published in two parts here and here and republished in one part here) with Dr. Jeremy Pickens, Principal Data Scientist at OpenText, who is friend...more
We wrote last July about a draft California ethics opinion regarding clients who may have diminished mental capacity. After receiving public comment, the State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and...more
As I wrote about a few weeks ago, eDiscovery Today recently released the 2022 State of the Industry Report regarding industry trends for eDiscovery. One of the questions I asked that 281 respondents answered was “What do...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) has proliferated across industries, in popular culture, and in the legal space. But what does AI really mean? One way to look at it is in reference to technology that lets lawyers and...more
The past two centuries have seen some of the most dramatic technological leaps in the history of humankind. Steam engines that connect continents. Personalized vehicles. The typewriter. Metal birds that can fly. Not to...more
The final installment of the virtual Legalweek(year) just concluded, with the fifth installment having completed this week, after previous iterations in February (the traditional time of year for in-person Legalweek), March,...more
What are the ethical obligations of a California lawyer for a client with diminished mental capacity? The ethics committee of the State Bar of California answers this key question in draft Formal Opinion No. 13-0002, with...more
In a recently published ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada analyzed and interpreted the validity of an arbitration agreement signed between Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) and one of its drivers. Uber Technologies, Inc....more
Historically, the legal profession has been reluctant to embrace technology and electronic discovery in the practice of law. Indeed, practitioners often still exchange discovery in paper format or ignore, altogether, medium,...more
There are two ways lawyers can satisfy their ethical duty of technology competence. One way is by learning about technology and becoming more proficient in the use of legal tech tools. The other is by working in association...more
As lawyers we must be guided by the Rules of Professional Conduct in all aspects of our work. Today that includes competence in relevant technology. Technology is deeply embedded in contemporary legal practice, while data...more
This is the 4th and final blog in a multi-part blog discussing various critical requirements that can serve as the road map to allow a lawyer to fulfill his/her duty of technological competence. You have assessed the...more