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Law Practice,
Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Apr. 4, 2013

Unstable clients with guns, the worst kind

The only thing worse than a difficult client is a difficult client with a gun. Whether or not you believe a threat, it is best to be familiar with both the Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant statutory law.

Wendy L. Patrick

Wendy is a California lawyer, past chair and advisor of the California State Bar Ethics Committee (Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct), and past chair of the San Diego County Bar Association Legal Ethics Committee. Any opinions expressed here are her own, and do not reflect that of her employer. This article does not constitute legal advice.

We are mourning another recent shooting death - this one involving the murder of District Attorney Mike McLelland of Kaufman County, Texas, and his wife Cynthia over the weekend. The two were fatally shot in their home, only a few months after McLelland publicly vowed to find the suspect who murdered one of his deputy district attorneys, Mark Hasse. Hasse was shot and killed in broad daylight on the courthouse steps a few months earlier.

While there is no suspect information y...

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