Illinois lawyer censured for settling deceased client’s injury case without informing court or opposing counsel of the death

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert which will discuss the recent censure of an Illinois lawyer for settling a deceased client’s personal injury case without informing court or opposing counsel of the client’s death. The case is In the Matter of: Anthony Patrick Gilbreth, No. 6289576, Commission No. 2015PR00100 (Ill. SC May 18, 2016). Read More

Florida Bar Board of Governors approves Florida Bar advertising rule amendment regarding lawyer’s use of “expert” and “specialist”

Hello and welcome to this update of my May 19, 2016 Ethics Alert regarding the Florida Bar Board of Governors’ final review of the proposed amendment to Florida Bar Rule 4-7.14 related to claims of specialization and expertise in advertisements. The BOG approved the rule amendment as drafted at its meeting on May 20, 2016 Read More

Florida Bar Board of Governors will consider final action on rule amendment regarding use of “expert” and “specialist”

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss the upcoming Florida Bar Board of Governors meeting this week in Palm Beach wherein the BOG is scheduled to vote on final action regarding a proposed amendment to Florida Bar Rule 4-7.14 related to claims of specialization and expertise. The proposed amendment was drafted Read More

ABA Formal Opinion 475 addresses when lawyers from different law firms are permitted to share a referral fee

By Admin | Published April 25, 2016 | Posted in ABA Formal Ethics Opinion referral fees, ABA Formal Opinion referral fees and conflict of interest, ABA formal opinions, Attorney Ethics, joe corsmeier, Joseph Corsmeier, Lawyer ethics, Lawyer Ethics and Professionalism, Lawyer improper fees, Lawyer referral fees | Leave a comment

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss the recent American Bar Association Formal ethics Opinion which addresses when lawyers may share a fee in a referral arrangement. The opinion is ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 475 and was issued on April 21, 2016. The formal opinion is here: https://www.abajournal.com/files/FO_474.pdf Under ABA Model Read More

New Jersey Supreme Court opinion holds that lawyers accused of improper Facebook access can be charged with ethics violations

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss the recent Supreme Court of New Jersey opinion which held that lawyers who allegedly engaged in improper conduct related to access of an opposing party’s Facebook page can be charged with disciplinary rule violations. The disciplinary matter is John J. Robertelli v. The Read More

Oklahoma Supreme Court publicly censures lawyer who had been permanently suspended by bankruptcy court for disobeying order

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss recent Oklahoma Supreme Court opinion censuring a lawyer who had been permanently suspended from practicing before the bankruptcy court for disobeying a bankruptcy judge’s order. The case is State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Oliver, case number Case Number: SCBD-6268 (Oklahoma Supreme Court, March Read More

Pennsylvania woman who posed as a lawyer for 10 years is convicted of UPL, forgery, and records tampering

By Admin | Published March 30, 2016 | Posted in deceit, dishonesty, joe corsmeier, Joseph Corsmeier, Lawyer unlicensed practice of law, Non-lawyer practicing law, Unauthorized practice of law, Unlicensed practice of law | Tagged Tags: corsmeier, joseph corsmeier, Non-lawyer practice of law | Leave a comment

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss recent conviction of a Pennsylvania woman who posed as a lawyer for 10 years using fictitious documents and another lawyer’s license number. The case is Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Kimberly M. Kitchen, case number CP-31-CR-0000274-2015 (Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County). The court docket Read More

Florida Bar Board of Governors considers advertising rule amendments on use of “expert” and “specialist” and approves rule regarding faxes, telegrams and online chatrooms

Hello and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog which will discuss the recent Florida Bar Board of Governors meeting wherein the BOG discussed rule changes to comply with a Florida federal district court judge’s Order finding that Bar rule which prevented non-certified lawyers from stating they have expertise or specialize in an area of law Read More