Topic: Romantic Relationship Between Criminal Defense Attorney and County Deputy Sheriff Digest:Where a criminal defense attorney is in a romantic relationship with a county deputy sheriff, the attorney must determine if a reasonable lawyer would conclude there is a significant risk that the attorney’s independent professional judgment on behalf of the client will be adversely … Continued
Topic: Affiliation with a lawyer not admitted in New York Digest: A New York-admitted lawyer may affiliate and share fees with an out-of-state lawyer residing in New York and practicing immigration law in New York only if (1) neither the lawyers nor their firm would be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law (which is … Continued
Topic: Conflicts of interest among family members Digest: A lawyer who represents the Executor of an estate and simultaneously represents a beneficiary of the estate in an unrelated matter does not have a concurrent conflict of interest. “Differing interests” may arise where lawyer simultaneously represents both an estate’s Executor/beneficiary and a co-beneficiary as co-defendants in … Continued
Topic: Referral Fees Digest: A licensed attorney who only provides nonlegal services to real estate clients may receive referral fees from a third-party investment advisor. Rules: 1.7, 1.8, 5.7 FACTS: The inquirer is a member of the New York State bar but does not engage in the practice of law. Instead, the inquirer works as a … Continued
Topic: YouTube channel; general legal information; advertising Digest: As a general proposition, creating videos for a YouTube channel to educate the public or legal profession about matters of general or specific interest is a permitted activity and does not necessarily constitute “advertising” as that term is defined in the Rules of Professional Conduct, but in … Continued
Topic: Multi-jurisdictional practice; partnership with non-United States lawyers; imputation of conflicts Digest: The New York Rules of Professional Conduct (the “Rules”) govern the conduct of an attorney admitted to practice only in New York who partners with a non-United States law firm. Whether the Rules permit a New York lawyer to form a partnership with … Continued
Topic: Confidentiality; joint clients; return of clients’ files when there has been joint representation Digest: In a joint representation, there is a presumption that the lawyer will share confidential information received from each co-client with the other co-client, but that presumption does not extend to confidential information the lawyer received prior to the inception of … Continued
Topic: Dispute over credit card payment for legal services. Digest: If a client disputes a credit card payment of legal fees by requesting a chargeback, the lawyer may dispute the chargeback by providing information to the credit card provider about the services rendered, including the disclosure of the retainer agreement and client invoices if (a) … Continued
Topic: Conflict of interest in representing county and serving subpoenas on county departments. Digest: A lawyer who represents certain separate County Departments in diverse matters as an independent contractor for the County Attorney may request and serve subpoenas for documents and witnesses upon a County Department for which he does not perform legal services and … Continued
Topic: Partnership with Non-U.S. Lawyer; partner who is also a member of a firm with non- lawyer ownership or management; whether business management and strategy may be the practice of law; affiliation of law firms; co-naming of law firms; billing for services of another law firm. Digest: Rule 7.5(d) recognizes a partnership between a lawyer … Continued