Legal Ethics and Malpractice

Representative Matters

• Enforcing partnership obligations. Successfully represented a multi-city law firm in enforcing its rights, both in a federal court jury trial and in related arbitral proceedings, when managing attorneys of some of the branch offices of the firm breached their partnership obligations in the course of their resignations.
• Malpractice and disciplinary charges. Represented a District of Columbia lawyer against both malpractice and disciplinary charges brought by a former client and achieved resolutions which had no adverse impact on the lawyer's practice.
• Subpoenas to testify. Represented a major national law firm and lawyers subpoenaed to testify in a bankruptcy proceeding with respect to the firm's handling of a major financing transaction.
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges. Represented an attorney the SEC sued in an injunctive action in federal court in New York over his role in the publication by a publicly traded company of allegedly false statements with regard to the ownership and value of the company's principal assets.
• Ethics investigations. Represented a large national law firm in ethics investigations before a federal agency, a federal court and bar disciplinary authorities.
• Resolving difficult ethical questions. Represented a multi-city law firm in resolving difficult ethical questions arising from its handling of client funds over many years.
• Resolving difficult claims while litigation was continuing. Counseled and represented a consumer products company with respect to preserving and ultimately settling professional liability claims against law firms arising from an ongoing litigation in which those firms were continuing to represent the client.
  
• Bar counsel investigations and disciplinary proceedings. Represented numerous individual lawyers in District of Columbia and Maryland bar counsel investigations and disciplinary proceedings.
• Conflict of interest issues. Provided an opinion letter to a law firm which used it to resolve a serious conflict of interest complaint by a major client, without loss of the client relationship. Also, successfully represented a national law firm in defense of a disqualification motion.
• Lawyer departures. Counseled a group of lawyers planning to depart a large, national law firm which allowed them to execute their plans with no loss of client relationships and with no residual disputes with their former law firm.
• Outside ethics counsel. Serve as outside ethics counsel to several Washington area law firms.