The Pennsylvania Supreme Court https://www.pacourts.us/courts/supreme-court has created a Judicial Ethics Advisory Board. https://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/news/news-detail/1101/supreme-court-of-pennsylvania-announces-membership-of-new-judicial-ethics-advisory-board The Board is populated with a diverse group of judges from across the state and across the levels of the judiciary. Similar to the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Board will provide
…Blog Posts
On February 11, 2022, Attorney Elliott James Schuchardt was suspended for two years by order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, reciprocal to jurisdiction of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
When a lawyer is publicly disciplined in one jurisdiction, the lawyer is required to notify
…Last year, a Twitter thread addressed women and asked this question: How would your life change if men had a curfew at 8 p.m.? In other words, what would it be like if women could go out at night without the fear of being harassed or assaulted? How would a woman’s
…Recently, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania appointed a new Board Chair and Board Vice-Chair. Attorney Jerry Lehocky will serve as Board Chair and attorney Dion Rassias as Vice-Chair, effective April 1, 2022. In 2023, Rassias will replace Lehocky
…I often tell my attorney-clients to think of the Rules of Professional Conduct as the Emily Post guide to etiquette for attorneys. The rules provide the dos and don’ts for your conduct in relation to your clients, your adversaries, the courts, nonrepresented parties, your
…It’s the season of gratitude and celebration, gratitude and celebration for getting through all this so far. (You know what “this” is!) Like a lot of you, I am still working remotely. I miss my walk to work, the office kibbitzing,
…By Ellen C. Brotman and Lynn Marietta Nichols
The summer is ending, the birds are flying south. Partners and associates are also considering whether it’s time to leave the nest and migrate to greener pastures. Lawyers no longer join law firms to stay until retirement. Government
…By Ellen C. Brotman and Lynn Marietta Nichols
Decades ago when the Rules of Professional Conduct were codified in Pennsylvania, we all went to offices in the jurisdiction where we served our clients. We were listed in the Yellow Pages; we read actual law books and we
…In a recent DBD Opinion suspending a lawyer for one year and one day for numerous Rule violations, the Board also noted that “Respondent deposited Rule 1.15 funds into his operating account. Respondent charged the clients flat fees and accordingly, was required to maintain them in trust until he had
…I have been writing this professional conduct column for over 10 years, with and without co-authors, discussing topics from the mundane to the philosophical. This month, my co-author is Lynn Nichols, who is beginning a new practice representing respondents before the Disciplinary Board, and whose experience as a former homicide prosecutor
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