On Using and Billing for “Re-cycled Work Product”
“A lawyer who is able to reuse old work product has not re-earned the hours previously billed.” ABA Standing Comm. on Ethics & Professional Responsibility Formal Op. 93-379 (1993) In reviewing legal bills and speaking at CLE seminars to attorneys, I have found that too many attorneys lack a sufficient understanding of what is ethically permitted […]
Why Most Lawyers Do Not Have a Duty to be “Zealous Advocates”
Twice I have heard speakers at my state bar’s annual convention cite to a lawyer’s ethical duty to be a “zealous advocate” when representing a client. That all lawyers have an ethical duty to be zealous advocates is just something that everyone knows to be factually correct. Right? Well, not exactly. The plain fact is that the duty of zealous advocacy has […]