Category Archives: Ethics
Facing Sanctions? Not if the party, person, or attorney to be sanctioned wasn’t identified in the Notice of Motion.
Although most attorneys know that a request for sanctions must contain certain information and must also be placed in the Notice portion of a motion, once in a while you get lucky and both the caption page and the Notice … Continue reading
Can attorneys ghostwrite briefs and petitions for pro se litigants?
We know freelance/contract attorneys can “ghostwrite” briefs for other attorneys, but can they do so for pro se litigants without disclosing their involvement? In a recent opinion, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said yes. This ABA Journal article references … Continue reading
How do you bill out a freelance aka contract attorney? Can it be profitable?
What you really want to know is, “Can I make a profit by billing out a contract attorney to my client at a higher rate than I am paying the contract attorney?” The answer, basically, is yes. In a … Continue reading
Need a contract attorney to make a court appearance?
The State Bar of California has issued formal ethics opinion No. 2004-165 to address the ethical responsibilities of a member who uses outside contract attorneys to make appearances on behalf of the member’s clients. In a nutshell: First, the member … Continue reading
