State Bar & Bar Associations,
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Feb. 14, 2020
Ethical duties to clients remain paramount to other obligations for departing attorneys
TA recent ethics opinion from the State Bar discusses the ethical obligations of both an attorney departing a law firm, akin to a baseball free agent, as well as the duties of the attorney’s former law firm. It acknowledges that, although the departing lawyer may owe the law firm fiduciary or contractual duties, “the client’s interests must come first.”
Jessica Beckwith
Partner
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
Email: jessica.beckwith@lewisbrisbois.com
Jessica practices in the firm's Los Angeles and Phoenix offices. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Beckwith worked at the State Bar of California, Office of Chief Trial Counsel, as both deputy and senior trial counsel. Ms. Beckwith represents attorneys in disciplinary matters and advises attorneys and law firms on matters relating to State Bar complaints in California and Arizona as well as fee disputes, disciplinary matters, disqualification issues, bar admissions, and other licensing, ethics, and professional responsibility issues.
Kenneth C. Feldman
Partner
Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith LLP
Certified Specialist in Legal Malpractice
633 W 5th St Ste 4000
Los Angeles , CA 90071
Phone: (213) 250-1800
Fax: (213) 250-7900
Email: Ken.Feldman@lewisbrisbois.com
Loyola Law School
Kenneth is firm-wide chair of the legal malpractice defense group at Lewis Brisbois. He is a certified specialist, legal malpractice law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and is vice chair of the State Bar Legal Malpractice Law Advisory Commission. Mr. Feldman is the author of "California Legal Malpractice & Malicious Prosecution Liability Handbook."
Lawyers, like baseball free agents such as Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, often believe that there are greener pastures (and allure of bigger dollars) elsewhere. In this regard, as pitchers and catchers have just reported to spring training, a few weeks ago — in late January — the State Bar Board of Trustees approved the publication of Ethics Opinion 2020-201 written by the State Bar of California’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct. The opinion di...
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