"Wow This Lawyer On The News Is Doing Really Dumb Things, Let's Flood The State Bar with Calls!!!!"

"Wow This Lawyer On The News Is Doing Really Dumb Things, Let's Flood The State Bar with Calls!!!!"

Stacie Rosenzweig
Snark, Current Events

This happens frequently when lawyers are in the news—social media lights up with calls to disbar them for doing whatever the posters believe was out of line. Now, as someone with an increasingly public practice, I wait with bated breath to see if and when the virtual torches and pitchforks come for my license. I’d like to say I’d see it as a badge of honor, but probably in action I would not be as amused.

This post is not about whether any lawyer currently in the news deserves discipline, but about the process.

Oh Rudy...

Oh Rudy...

Stacie Rosenzweig
Lawyers Behaving Badly, Quick Hits, Snark

All eyes are on the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which is set to hear arguments in one of the Trump Campaign’s voting lawsuits today. Enter Rudy Giuliani, who has applied for pro hac vice admission despite his last federal court appearance being before some lawyers were born.

However, it looks like Rudy may have some problems right out of the gate, in addition to all of his other problems.

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Stacie Rosenzweig
Personal, My weird brain

That’s right, if you can believe it, Ethicking.com launched one year ago, on October 24, 2019.

…so, what a year, huh?

Like anyone who set out to do anything a year ago, this did not go as I’d planned. Sure, I did manage to keep up with the blog generally, updating every couple of weeks or so (and sometimes more often, though not quite at the weekly frequency I’d hoped). I thought I’d be writing about ABA opinions, nerd friends, and best practices, and I did that. And, sadly, I knew at this time last year, barring some very rapid advancement in medical science (or, as he called it, “a meteor crashing to Earth with the cure”) I would be posting a eulogy for my dear friend and mentor at some point.

Why Yes We Can Be Friends!

Why Yes We Can Be Friends!

Stacie Rosenzweig
ABA

Almost a year ago (wow), I wrote a bit about the State Bar Car Crash Symposium Heckler, who spent some quality time during my presentation lecturing us about the fact that sometimes plaintiff’s counsel and defense counsel are friendly with one another. (He also cornered me after my presentation, which dealt broadly with dealing with emotional situations, and complained that I didn’t consult with religious authorities about breaking bad news to a client. Oh well.)

And it does happen—sometimes I do see my existing friends on the other side of the caption, and sometimes I become friends with people on the other side after the litigation is over.

PAy yOuR BiLL or YoUR FILe GeTS IT

PAy yOuR BiLL or YoUR FILe GeTS IT

Stacie Rosenzweig
FAQ

Every now and again, I’ll be blogging some answers to questions I get frequently. (I’ll be sorting these under the category, “FAQ,” and will leave the debate as to whether that should be pronounced “fack” or “eff-A-cue” to a later date.)

One question I get frequently enough that I have the State Bar Ethics Committee opinion number* memorized, so we’ll tackle it first: “My former client has a big outstanding balance and now wants a copy of their file. Can I hold their file until they pay up?”

It's Just A Matter of Time, But Time Matters

It's Just A Matter of Time, But Time Matters

Stacie Rosenzweig
Current Events, Wisconsin

We all procrastinate. Even you—yes you, with your wall calendar and your daily planner in your briefcase and your Outlook calendar synched to your phone and Siri shouting reminders at you weeks, days, hours, and minutes before each important deadline. It’s part of the human condition, and not dependent on time management skills. Most of us know how to manage our time; we just don’t follow through. Lawyers do it for more than an hour a day.

On Lawyering, And Snark Blogging, When The World Is On Fire

On Lawyering, And Snark Blogging, When The World Is On Fire

Stacie Rosenzweig
Personal, Well Being

I have been derelict in updating this blog most of this summer, despite the promise to myself that I’d have fresh and exciting new content every 10-14 days and quick hits in between. Of course, when I made that promise to myself it was October 2019.

And I do have a bunch of half-written entries and prompts floating around, ranging from a February piece-in progress on the illusion of work-life balance (which, to be fair is still an illusion now, except I’m not writing about those weird feet-on-the-beach pictures or Bar events anymore) to three lines in an entry titled: “So It’s Come To This: The Ethics of Using Mail in 2020.” But it’s been hard to see things to completion and publication.

That’s because everything is hard, and it’s been hard.

"Oh I know it'll happen, but it'll never happen to me..."

"Oh I know it'll happen, but it'll never happen to me..."

Stacie Rosenzweig
National

When I talk to lawyers about scams, any kind of scams, most respond somewhat defensively. “How could anyone possibly fall for that? My BS detector would have picked that up.” And yes, we know that the IRS doesn’t make robocalls requesting a credit card number; that we don’t know any royalty in Nigeria who want to wire us money; and that nobody who really needs legal help in the United States starts an email with “Hello Barrister I am in need of enlisting your aid in enforcing a loan agreement in your jurisdiction” (which is why, when versions of that email come in, we quickly delete them—you do that, right?).

The problem is, the scams are getting smarter.

It Was Probably Too Soon To Open Bars. It's Too Soon To Open Bar Exams.

It Was Probably Too Soon To Open Bars. It's Too Soon To Open Bar Exams.

Stacie Rosenzweig
ABA, Admissions, Current Events

Three years ago, aspiring 1Ls at the other 235 or so law schools in the United States started their first year and assumed they’d be sitting for the bar exam this summer, in person, in a stuffy hotel ballroom (Virginia test-takers in full court dress, no really).

Now, those same new graduates are wondering what, if anything, is going to happen, given that we are still in the middle of a raging pandemic and putting hundreds of panting, coughing, sweaty people in a room together, even six feet apart, is the opposite of social distancing.

No Comment. No, Really, No Comment.

No Comment. No, Really, No Comment.

Stacie Rosenzweig
Lawyers Behaving Badly, Best Practices

I write about lawyers behaving badly a lot (at least, not when I’m not neglecting this blog-hi everyone, I hope you’ve been well) but one thing I don’t do is comment on Wisconsin lawyers with potential or pending matters. I’ll cite published opinions regarding Wisconsin lawyers, but only in rare cases will I discuss a case in any other context (and then, onl if it’s very publicly clear that I am not their lawyer).

Boom Shakalaka! You're Suspended Shakalaka!

Boom Shakalaka! You're Suspended Shakalaka!

Stacie Rosenzweig
Lawyers Behaving Badly

In my ethics nerd friend circles, we often discuss “those cases.” “Those cases” either involve attorney discipline or judges admonishing attorneys for allegedly bad behavior outside of the disciplinary cases; they’re not of great importance or precedential value by themselves. But they act as cautionary tales and generate extra publicity and discussion (at least in my ethics nerd friend circles) because they involve some combination of vulgarity, sex, “really, you have a law license and thought this was a good idea?” and/or general silliness.

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