Overview
We serve, advise and inform lawyers, clients, law firms and the law departments of businesses concerning the complicated and evolving standards of legal practice. Our lawyers provide timely answers to difficult questions in the form of opinions, second opinions or simple recommendations. In disputed matters, we provide expert witness, and mediator and arbitrator service. We are available to serve as counsel when standards of practice are at issue, in malpractice and disciplinary matters. We also are committed to providing information to maintain and elevate legal ethics and professional responsibility by offering both topical and general training to law departments and law firms.
In the modern quick-response landscape, attorneys must successfully and simultaneously meet the standard of care that applies to their chosen practice area, while also ensuring that their conduct always satisfies the complex and detailed regulatory requirements of each state's version of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Our attorneys in this practice bring decades of experience in responding to daily inquiries and issues of lawyers and clients that arise in a large firm environment.
We bring balanced practical experience, with service on both sides of the relationship. We have advised lawyers and law firms and in-house counsel, and have served in law firm leadership capacities ranging from practice leader and office managing partner to managing partner of an AmLaw 125 firm. We have also represented and advised both lawyers and their clients in litigated matters.
The Legal Ethics Project
Supporting Professionalism with Information
As part of our commitment to the profession to elevate and maintain a high level of legal ethics, we go beyond simply offering services for hire. Through our Legal Ethics Project, we support the professionalism of the practice with helpful information. This includes our Dear Ethics Lawyer™ bi-monthly newsletter series that explores ethics problems and answers. We invite you to join the mailing list for this service by subscribing to our bi-monthly newsletter. You can also submit questions and interact with us by email at mark.hinderks@stinson.com.
The Legal Ethics Project also includes continuing legal education presentations on a variety of topics to various organizations and groups.
Experience
The experience and capabilities of our team members includes:
- Service as General Counsel and Assistant General Counsel of major law firms, responding to daily inquiries, disputes and challenges concerning the practice of law in a law firm environment.
- Service as Managing Partner, Practice Leader and Office Managing Partner of a large law firm, gaining the practical perspective of leadership in risk management.
- In malpractice cases and disputes, we have served as counsel for lawyers and law firms, and as counsel for affected clients Representation of clients in lawyer disciplinary proceedings.
- Engagement and service as testifying and consulting expert witness.
- Provision of opinions and recommendations to lawyers, law firms and corporate law departments about matters of legal ethics, attorney-client privilege and reporting obligations.
- Mediation and arbitration of disputes.
- Substantial trial experience across a wide spectrum of disputes, including two team members recognized as Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), with service as chairs of national committees of the ACTL.
- Delivery of hundreds of continuing legal education programs on a host of relevant topics. One long-running series of programs, "Ethics for Good," began in 2000 and has evolved into a stage show that has not only provided interesting and timely content, it has also raised nearly $1 million in proceeds for charity.
- Involvement in state and national level professional organizations concerning legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Team
Team
News & Insights
News
Legal Ethics Project
Legal Ethics Project
Supporting professionalism with information.
The twice-monthly "Dear Ethics Lawyer" column is part of a training regimen of the Legal Ethics Project and is authored by Mark Hinderks. Stinson's Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility practice offers advice and "second opinions" to lawyers and law firms, consulting and testifying expert service, training, mediation/arbitration and representation in malpractice litigation. The submission of questions for future columns is welcome: please send to mark.hinderks@stinson.com. We also invite you to join the mailing list by subscribing to our bi-monthly newsletter.
2024
October 1 Issue - Permissive Withdrawal
September 16 Issue - Direct Solicitation
September 3 Issue - Lawyer as witness
August 15 Issue - Conflict from Inadvertent Attorney-Client Relationship
August 1 Issue - Gen AI ABA Formal Op. 512
July 15 Issue - Ownership of Client File Materials
July 1 Issue - Ex Parte Communications
June 18 Issue - Financial Assistance to Litigation Clients
June 3 Issue - Responsive Document Discovered Post-Settlement
May 15 Issue - Potentially False Client Deposition Testimony
May 1 Issue - Representing Seller and Company Post-Sale of Company
April 15 Issue - Matchmaking Between Clients
April 1 Issue - Client as Adverse Witness in Different Matter
March 15 Issue - Providing Services in Exchange for an Endorsement
March 1 Issue - Withdrawal without cause
February 15 Issue - Confidentiality of Closed Files
February 1 Issue - Aggregate Settlement Issues in Joint Representation
January 16 Issue - Waiver of Conflict When Matter is Highly Confidential
January 2 Issue - Case Settled Based on Client Hiding Documents
2023
December 15 Issue - Acting in Emergency Without Expertise
December 1 Issue - Subordinate Lawyer
November 15 Issue - Unprofessional Relationships With Clients
November 1 Issue - Hiring Non-Lawyers
October 16 Issue - Evolution of Attorney-Client Relationship
October 2 Issue - Law-Related Businesses
September 15 Issue - Hiring Attorney for Adverse Firm
September 1 Issue - Representation Adverse to Former Pitch Prospect
August 15 Issue - Representation of Another Law Firm
August 1 Issue - Lawyer Settlement of Client Claim
July 18 Issue - Joint Representation of Corporate Constituents
July 3 Issue - Third-Party Witnesses
June 15 Issue - Conflicts Adversity to Client Who Left with Departing Lawyer
June 1 Issue - Generative AI Tools
May 15 Issue - Drafting Document for Adverse Party to Use
May 1 Issue - Advance Waivers - Commercial Parties
April 18 Issue - Conflicts from Family Relationships
April 3 Issue - Choice of Law in Multi-State Ethics Issues
March 15 Issue - Settlement to Avoid Disclosing Client Fraud Lawyer Did Not Participate In
March 1 Issue - Communication with Others in Non-Lawyer Capacity
February 15 Issue - Conflict Issues of Unclosed "General Files"
February 1 Issue - Duty to Disclose Discovery of Completed Fraud
January 17 Issue - Representing an Organization
January 3 Issue - Publishing Information About Client Representation
2022
December 15 Issue - Estate Planning-Gifts to Lawyer or Family Members
December 1 Issue - Receipt of Unsolicited Information from Would-Be Clients
November 15 Issue - Issues from Personal Relationships
November 1 Issue - Inadvertent Receipt of Confidential Information
October 17 Issue - Discovery of a Completed Fraud
October 4 Issue - Local Counsel Ethical Obligations
September 15 Issue - Negotiation Ethics
September 1 Issue - Business Transactions with Clients
August 15 Issue - Duty to Correct False Testimony
August 1 Issue - Client Confidences Affecting Waiver Requests
July 15 Issue - Asking Current and Former Employees Not to Communicate With Adverse Party
July 1 Issue - Avoiding Inadvertent Relationship When Dealing with Unrepresented Party
June 15 Issue - Attorney-Client Privilege: PR Consultant on Litigation Team
June 1 Issue - Corporate Family Conflict
May 16 Issue - Potential Claim as "Material Limitation"
May 2 Issue - Confidentiality and Relationships
April 15 Issue - Joint Clients in Estate Planning
April 1 Issue - Representing Economic Competitors
March 15 Issue - Judicial Criticism
March 1 Issue - Company and Employee as Joint Clients
February 15 Issue - Correcting Adversary's Mistake
Discussion presented here is based on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but the Model Rules are adopted in different and amended versions, and interpreted in different ways in various places. Always check the rules and authorities applicable in your relevant jurisdiction – the result may be completely different.