Jeff Burman, General Counsel, Fortitude Re, Steven Schwartz, Partner, Chaffetz Lindsey, and Alicia Yeo, Associate, Chaffetz Lindsey, joined the Summer Membership Meeting Education Day line up with their topic: “Lawyers Beware: Ethical Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them.” The discussion focused primarily on the big issues relevant to in-house counsel and attorneys who represent corporations, including:
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- Know your ethical obligations. All attorneys are bound by a code of ethics that may differ by jurisdiction. Attorneys should be familiar with their ethical obligations, and they should be aware that there could be serious repercussions for violations. State professional conduct rules, caselaw, statutes, Bar Association opinions, and more can help define and clarify ethical obligations. “You have to be thinking about [ethics] all the time,” Burman noted. Even people with good intentions can fall prey to ethics violations if they do not consider their ethical obligations.
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- Who is your client? This simple question has caused plenty of headaches for attorneys working with or for businesses. Confusion may arise because attorneys who represent corporations may provide advice to any number of officers, directors or employees of the corporation. However, the corporation is ultimately the client, and that should be made clear before conflicts arise.
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- How to handle conflicts of interest. Schwartz and Yeo discussed waivers of conflict and when they are appropriate for current and former clients. When evaluating potential conflicts of interest, Berman noted that the attorney should make sure everyone understands the issue and is on the same page. The panel also touched upon conflicts that may arise during the representation of subsidiaries and other entities in complex corporate relationships.
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- Ethics in litigation and arbitration. The panel used caselaw to highlight ethical issues that may arise during litigation and arbitration.
A video replay of this presentation is available on AIRROC’s On Demand platform.
