Return of Electronic Records to Client upon Termination of Representation [Proposed 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 15]
This Proposed Opinion was adopted at the January 2014 State Bar Quarterly Meeting. [...]
Representation of Parties to a Commercial Real Estate Loan Closing [Proposed 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 14]
A lawyer generally may not represent both the borrower and the lender in a commercial real estate closing, even with consent. [...]
Disbursement Against Funds Credited to Trust Account by ACH and EFT [Proposed 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 13]
This Proposed Opinion was adopted at the January 2014 State Bar Quarterly Meeting. [...]
Disclosure of Settlement Terms to Former Lawyer Asserting a Claim for Fee Division [Proposed 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 12]
Absent client consent or applicability of one of the Rule 1.6(b) exceptions, a client's lawyer is not permitted to disclose settlement information to the client's previous attorney. [...]
Providing Defendant with Discovery During Representation [Proposed 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 2]
This Proposed Opinion was adopted at the January 2014 State Bar Quarterly Meeting. [...]
Participation in Online Group Legal Advertising Using Territorial Exclusivity [2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 10]
Participation in legal advertising services is permitted, as long as the service makes the appropriate disclosures “fully, accurately, and prominently." [...]
Role of Lawyer for Public Interest Law Organization [2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 9]
Guidance for lawyers who are employed by a public interest law organization that provides legal and non-legal services to its clientele, and has a non-lawyer executive director. [...]
Release/Dismissal Agreement Offered by Prosecutor to Convicted Person [2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 1]
There is no per se ethical rule against a prosecutor agreeing to support a defendant’s motion for appropriate relief in exchange for a defendant executing a release of claims. [...]
Copying Represented Persons on Electronic Communications [2012 Formal Ethics Opinion 7]
“The prudent practice is for all counsel involved in a matter to establish at the outset a procedure for determining whether it is acceptable to ‘reply to all’ when a represented party is copied on an electronic communication.” [...]
No Immunity for You
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied qualified immunity to the Governor of South Carolina in a lawsuit filed by the protest group Occupy Columbia. [...]
North Carolina to appeal court decision that abortion and ultrasound law violates the First Amendment
In July 2011, House Bill 854, also known as the Woman’s Right to Know Act, was presented to then-Governor Beverly Perdue. The Bill prohibits an abortion unless a physician conveys state-specified information to the patient. The former Governor vetoed the bill, remarking that it was a “dangerous intrusion into the confidential relationship that exists between women and their doctors” and that “physicians must be free to advise and treat their patients based on their medical [...]
A-Rod accepts defeat
Allow me to preface: I do not pity Alex Rodriguez (“A-Rod”), and I am not the only one that does not feel sympathy for him. In fact, I would assume that the vast majority of sports fans feel no sympathy for the man, but why? Is it because he is the youngest Major League Baseball (“MLB”) player to hit 500 home runs? Or is it because he is the youngest to reach 600 home runs, surpassing the great Babe Ruth? Maybe it is because in December 2007, the New York Yankees rewarded him [...]
And I was like baby, baby, baby, ohhh, please don’t deport me!
What do eggs being thrown on houses, drag racing in Miami, DUIs, and being yelled at by Keyshawn Johnson all have in common? Justin Bieber. It is “the Biebs’s” latest run in with the law, however, that has the Internet buzzing and people petitioning for him to be deported back to Canada. The petition, which was created on January 23, 2014, has over 250,000 signatures as of February 15, 2014. It claims that Bieber is threatening the safety of the American people and is a terrible [...]
Pay-For-Play: The inevitable professionalization of college athletics
The Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team’s 2013 national championship run had all of the drama of a Hollywood movie. After a brutal, freak injury to guard Kevin Ware in the Cardinals’ Elite Eight win over the Duke Blue Devils, the team rallied together for two come-from-behind wins to beat Wichita State and Michigan. As they lowered the hoop to give Ware a piece of the national championship net, the Cardinals basked in their One Shining Moment. To any lover of March [...]
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals disrupts FCC’s stance on “Net Neutrality” [Updated]
Updated February 20, 2014: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced yesterday that he does not plan to seek further judicial review of the D.C. Circuit’s striking down a majority of the provisions of the FCC’s Open Internet rules. Wheeler stated that he intends to accept the D.C. Circuit’s invitation to act by “proposing rules that will meet the court’s test for preventing improper blocking of and discrimination among Internet traffic, ensuring genuine transparency in [...]