Last night, I realized that I often mention “inquiries.” It struck me that people might not know what an “inquiry” is.  So, I thought I’d explain. The rules that govern the Professional Responsibility Program include this language: “A. Legal Ethics Inquiries. In response to an inquiry related to the Rules of Professional Conduct, law practice management, or a lawyer or judge’s professionalism or professional responsibilities, Bar Counsel will provide the inquirer with: (1) the appropriate referral, educational materials, or guidance; or (2) the preventive advice and information necessar ..read more

Next week is Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL).  This year’s theme: The theme “embodies two key ideas: (1) a clean slate to start/restart our well-being action plans and (2) behavior change toward greater well-being.” I’m focusing on the word “start.” The website is chock full of activities designed to spur a reboot. However, as I blogged last week, the goal shouldn’t be to choose an activity that gives us something to do during WWIL.  Rather, the goal should be to find something that will serve as a starting point towards building healthy habits with which we engage long after WWIL con ..read more

Tomorrow I’m presenting a CLE for First American Title Insurance Company. The topic is “ethical traps for real estate practitioners.”  My presentation will include a reminder to verify changes to wire instructions. [1] It will also include thoughts on how best to verify changes.  It’ll go something like this: In my opinion, the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct impose a duty to act competently to safeguard client funds.  This includes taking reasonable steps to protect against inadvertently disbursing funds to a scammer.  What are reasonable steps? One is second-factor ..read more

Wow!  I received lots of fantastic responses to Friday’s intro. As a group, we collect (or used to collect) many interesting things! I’m not going to list them here. I plan to save the list for another post, hopefully one that includes a chat with my mom.  I feel compelled to give her some rebuttal time, as moms took some shade in the stories of our collections! Happy Monday! Honor Roll Karen Allen, Karen Allen Law Penny Benelli, Dakin & Benelli Alberto Bernabe, Law Professor, UIC Law The Currency Counselors, General Counsel’s Office, Office of the State Treasurer Benjamin Gould ..read more

Happy sunny Friday and welcome to the 297th legal ethics quiz! I was bored the other night. Nothing on tv interested me, it was too early to go to bed, and the book I intend to read next had yet to arrive from Amazon.[1] So, I grabbed a magazine that I didn’t even really know I had. I mean, I knew there were some magazines on my coffee table, but until I rifled through them, I couldn’t have told you which ones were there. Turns out, I snagged the 1000th issue of Rolling Stone. The issue includes dozens of vignettes about prior covers. Leafing through sent me on a fantastic trip down memory lan ..read more

In January, the Duke Center on Law & Tech launched Responsible AI in Legal Services (RAILS). The initiative’s mission is to: “Bring together a cross-industry group of leaders (judiciary, corporations, law firms, tech providers, access to justice orgs, etc.) to support the responsible, ethical, and safe use of AI to advance the practice of law and delivery of legal services to all.” Although I only learned about RAILS today, I’m already appreciative of the tab Resource: AI Orders.  It includes a link to the RAILS AI Use in Courts Tracker.  The Tracker “contains court orders, loc ..read more

Last week, I encouraged people to make well-being a habit.  I did so in the context of next month’s  Well-Being Week in Law and the dozens of activities that the organizers recommend for those looking to improve their well-being. Of course, with so many choices, it can be difficult to decide where to start.  To the extent that well-being starts within, and that each of us is (at least partly) responsible for our own well-being, one way to begin might be this: by being nicer to yourself.  Cynthia Sharp and Rebecca Howlett run The Legal Burnout Solution.  Cindy and Beck ..read more

Happy Monday! Friday’s questions are here.  The answers follow today’s Honor Roll. Karen Allen, Karen Allen Law Penny Benelli, Dakin & Benelli Alberto Bernabe, Law Professor, UIC Law The Currency Counselors, Office of the State Treasurer, General Counsel’s Office Robert Grundstein Margo Howland, Esq. Glenn Jarrett, Jarrett/Hoyt Douglas Keehn, Assistant Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud & Residential Abuse Unit Mark Kolter, Darby Kolter & Roberts Elizabeth Kruska, Former President, Vermont Bar Association Jordana Levine, Marsicovetere & Levine Jeffrey Messina, Flynn Messin ..read more

Welcome to the 296th Five for Friday legal ethics quiz! Your responses to last week’s intro about grilled cheese sandwiches were amazing!  So amazing that I decided not even to bother with attempting an intro this week. Instead, I’ll bask in last week’s for another 7 days and, today, will share a few stories related to legal ethics & professional responsibility.  Oh, and I’m holding a story in reserve – a New Hampshire story that I’ll likely blog about tomorrow in the return of Was That Wrong?[1] CIVILITY.  Numerous outlets reported on a motion for sanctions that was recentl ..read more

If you only have time to read one line today, let it be this: consider making well-being a habit. Now, for anyone with time for more, the rest of the story. Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL) begins on May 6. From the website, it’s “aim . . . is to raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the profession all year-round to improve well-being.”  The emphasis on “all year-round” is mine.  That’s because my hope continues to be that legal professionals make well-being a habit, not just something in which to dabble for a few days in May. As a coach and run ..read more