Recently in Professional Responsibility Category

Two YouTube fails in one morning? This is further proof of what we advised earlier: tread on social media with caution.

This morning, we saw that a purported law student had posted a self-recorded video of her disgusting racist rant at Dunkin' Donuts employees over a receipt dispute. Now, we have a lawyer who compromised a case, violated multiple rules of professionalism, and revealed a confidential informant, all by posting a video obtained in discovery on YouTube, and per the disciplinary report, on "an internet site known as Facebook." Whatever that is.

What was missing here -- social media savvy, a knowledge of basic ethical obligations, or simple common sense?

Are good lawyers expensive lawyers? Expensive lawyers - it sounds almost laughably redundant, but, there's actually quite a misconception. Because not all lawyers are expensive.

Some are even more expensive.

In all seriousness, however, there is good reason for the number of expenses that lawyers charge for. The law is often a very daunting process for most people to pursue on their own efficiently (and, well, legally for that matter). Still, though, how can a potential client tell what makes a lawyer better than some others when doing their research? Is your worth as a practicing attorney really in how much you charge?

It shouldn't be, and here are a few thoughts on what we think makes a good lawyer.

What's your hourly rate? $300? $600? Glenn C. Lewis probably had you beat. According to The Washington Post, Lewis once claimed in an interview to be the most expensive attorney in the area, at $850 an hour for his service as a family law attorney specializing in divorce, custody, and other related matters.

But he's billed his last hour, it seems. On Friday, Lewis, the former president of the Virginia Bar Association, was disbarred for dishonesty, mismanaging client funds, and filing to fulfill his legal obligations. And though his problems went far beyond the billing blunders we discussed yesterday, a disputed $500,000 bill served as the catalyst for his downfall.

When I was a wee lad, I worked at a firm that was handling a child custody dispute. As with most custody situations, the signs were pointing towards some sort of a joint arrangement, which was unfortunate, because the opposing party was not exactly fit for parenthood.

With only a short time left until the hearing, the entire case took a turn in our client's favor due to an ounce of luck, a pound of stupidity, and a digital camera. The opposing party had borrowed the camera while taking the child for the weekend. When he returned the child, and the camera, he forgot to delete the images, and our client, fortuitously, found the smoking gun.

Or smoking something, at least. And it wasn't tobacco or marijuana.

What do you do when you have client whose story seems so improbable and lurid that it's unlikely that any jury would buy it? Do you try to salvage the client's reputation or do you admit the client's shortcomings and move on with your case?

Jodi Arias' attorney, Kirk Nurmi, seems to have taken the latter approach to no avail. "It's not even about whether or not you like Jodi Arias," Nurmi told the jury during his closing argument, according to ABC News. "Nine days out of ten, I don't like Jodi Arias, but that doesn't matter."

On Wednesday, Arias was found guilty of first degree murder in the brutal killing of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, CNN reports. She's now facing life in prison or the death penalty. Was Nurmi's approach the right way to go or did he do more harm than good for Arias' case?

Texting may not be the most efficient way to pick up new clients, but it's not explicitly barred under Ohio's legal ethics rules, the ABA Journal reports.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Supreme Court's ethics board announced in a ruling that lawyers may solicit clients by text message as long as they follow the applicable federal and state telemarketing laws, according to the ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct.

Thanks to television advertising, many of us have fond memories of our hometown personal injury attorneys’ commercials. In South Louisiana, where I grew up, there were two attorneys whose slogans dominated the air waves: Morris Bart (“I’m Morris Bart, and I’m on your side”) and E. Eric Guirard (“Get the E guarantee!”).

Bart is still going strong. Guirard was disbarred in 2009.

There are plenty of sketchy things that warrant disbarment — charging excessive fees, witness-tampering, etc — but Guirard’s sins were comparably tame. He was disbarred because his business model violated the rules of professional responsibility.

The Illinois State Bar Association has released two reports recently that reflect negatively on solo or small firm attorneys. One report (loosely) ties student loan debt and small firm economics to unethical conduct. The other shows that the vast majority of disciplined attorneys are solo or small firm practitioners.

Are the reports reflective of a problem - or is the bar way off base?

Last month, the ISBA released a questionable report on the impact of student loan debt on the legal profession. The report posited that the heavy student loan burden would discourage public interest jobs. It also noted that anecdotal evidence indicated an increase in ethics violations among lawyers with heavy debt loads. And since more recent grads and unemployed attorneys are hanging shingles, solo firms present an increasing risk of unethical conduct.

Yes, lawyers drink. It's a truism for a reason. Drinking is highly correlated with drunk driving. It should be no surprise then, that occasionally, a lawyer, or more specifically, a prosecutor, will be charged with driving under the influence. The only real question is, can that person, in good conscience, continue to prosecute DUI offenders while facing DUI charges?

It sounds like a ridiculous question. Do as we say, not as we do, right? Yet, the District Attorney for Travis County, Texas, Rosemary Lehmberg is facing those questions now, after she pled guilty unconditionally, waived her right to an appeal, and prepares for a relatively lengthy jail sentence.

Whether lawyers blog as a marketing tactic or for personal satisfaction, law blogging is pretty popular.

But blogging can cause problems for an attorney who doesn’t carefully adhere to his state’s professional conduct guidelines on his blog.