ESTATE OF LIFTIN v. US, Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit 2014 – Google Scholar. This appeal is slightly off topic, but is relevant to the area of legal malpractice liability. The Estate filed its federal estate tax return five months late. The IRS then assessed a 25% percent penalty, in…
BEFORE THE HEARING BOARD. This case results from an error in judgment that took place in 2003, more than 11 years ago. A lawyer instructed a staff member to falsely attest that certain persons had witnessed the signing of a will. This is one of the easiest of disciplinary cases…
CRIMSON TRACE CORPORATION v. DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE LLP, 355 Or. 476 – Or: Supreme Court 2014 – Google Scholar. This is an important issue in legal malpractice litigation – what happens to the communications between lawyers in a law firm and their in-house counsel. In this case the Oregon Supreme…
Filed May 27. A lawyer converted $1300 in client funds and loaned those funds to his sick brother. He later repaid the funds to the client. However, the ARDC opened an investigation and the deception was found out. The ARDC hearing board recommended a censure. The Review Board increased the…
The Lawyer’s Duty of Candor to the Client – Should It Be Formally Defined? Is it ever appropriate to lie to your client? Judge Raymond J. McKoski, an adjunct professor of law at John Marshall Law School, has posted a thoughtful article on the lawyer’s duty of candor to the…
BEFORE THE HEARING BOARD. Each year the ARDC files many cases against lawyer who convert funds from client trust accounts. This case is slightly different. The ARDC has charged one member of a two-member firm with failing to (a) maintain accurate and complete client trust account records and (b) failing…
This is an unpublished case, captioned, In re Marriage of Marie Brinkley v. Leonard Przysucha, 2014 Ill App (1st) 131397-U. The case is a dispute over child support obligations. The respondent allegedly had a large balance of unpaid child support. The petitioner, however, had obtained a bankruptcy discharge and did…
In re Balivet – 2014 VT 41 :: 2014 :: Vermont Supreme Court Decisions :: Vermont Case Law :: US Case Law :: US Law :: Justia. Vermont has reprimanded a judge for failing to rule promptly in a family court matter involving the guardianship of a minor child. This…
MATTER OF NOVINS, 2014 NY Slip Op 3465 – NY: Appellate Div., 1st Dept. 2014 – Google Scholar. Some of the facts set forth in ethics cases are almost impossible to believe. This is one such case where an associate of a law firm agreed to assist a former client…
This post is off-topic, but it is important to bloggers and writers. My initial reaction to this decision was “Whew.” This blog often reports on cases that have been filed. When a complaint is filed, I may write a blog post even though the allegations in the complaint have not…