Attorney Professionalism: Complying With Professional Norms When Faced With Challenges

Certain aspects of practice can pose unsuspected pitfalls for a lawyer or law firm. Failure to recognize or deal with problems in an informed, professional manner can lead to disciplinary or even malpractice exposure, to say nothing of lost time and difficult interpersonal relations.

Presented by James Kobak and Michael Salzman of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, this program explores several areas where even experienced lawyers and sophisticated law firms sometimes display ignorance or inattention to their ethical responsibilities or the practical ramifications of their conduct. These areas include the special considerations for dealing with self-represented adversaries, and for representing or interacting with witnesses now or formerly employed by an organization which the lawyer represents or is an adversary. This program will review common mistakes in these areas and how to be aware of them and correct them.  

Another area to be addressed will be the problem adversary who may skirt his or her ethical obligations. The program will seek to explore practical and effective means for dealing with such adversaries. The delicate subject of client expectations and difficult clients will also be explored, including the inconsistencies between client's and lawyer's standard terms of engagement.

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the applicable ethics rules in areas where lawyers and law firms may make mistakes or encounter difficult adversaries, clients, or witnesses
2. Develop best practices that meet or exceed ethical and legal standards and comply with professional norms and aspirations
3. Discuss practical steps for avoiding or confronting difficult problems