Practice Area Corner Archives

Got Ethics? Join the Committee in 2016 to Stay Active in the Legal Community

In addition to holding its 4th Tuesday monthly meetings at BASF’s offices and staffing the BASF Legal Ethics Hotline, the active members of BASF’s Legal Ethics Committee have: regularly contributed to this Ethics Corner; jointly authored formal ethics opinions with…

Cost-Effective Trial Tools

On March 24, 2015, I sat in the back of Judge Harold Kahn’s crowded courtroom in San Francisco Superior Court. The parties in the Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins sex discrimination case were delivering closing arguments. Both sides used modern…

Family Law Corner Surrogate on the Hook for Child Support? The View from Pennsylvania Says No

Sherri Shepherd’s (The View) three-year fight to invalidate her surrogacy contract has established the law in Pennsylvania (In Re: Baby S.) on surrogacy contracts. The decision could not have come sooner for the gestational carrier, Jessica Bartholomew, a Pennsylvania resident.…

Keeping Up With Khloe’s Divorce

It was surprising when reality television star Khloe Kardashian and former NBA star Lamar Odom called off their divorce after Odom was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel, apparently from a drug overdose. The divorce was all but finished when…

Divorced At Last

After preventing a same-sex couple’s divorce for the past two years, Mississippi came through on Tuesday, when Chancery Judge Mitchell Lundy, Jr. divorced Lauren Czekala-Chatham and Dana Ann Melancon in his chambers. Melancon, who moved to Arkansas after the couple…

Do You Know What MCLEs Your Paralegal Needs?

Every paralegal knows the MCLE requirements and reporting period for his or her attorney. They are familiar with the various ways attorneys earn MCLE—attending live seminars, webcasts, webinars, in-house programs, or self-study—and who the MCLE provider is. As an attorney,…

Is Your Client’s Case Ready for Mediation?

When considering mediation to resolve your client’s dispute, consider these points: 1. Are the Parties Really Ready for Settlement? Mediation works only if the parties really desire to resolve the matter, meet in good faith, and have a reasonable evaluation…

Attorney v. Client – Walking the Ethics Tightrope

As a legal ethics and risk management advisor, I am often asked whether litigation between an attorney and client is permitted during engagement on another matter. This situation often arises as to legal fee disputes; however, lawsuits between in-house or…