Since April 2022, I’ve written the monthly Eye on Ethics column in Arizona Attorney magazine, examining legal ethics issues affecting Arizona legal professionals. Browse the archive below.
Don’t Blame the Bot
July/August 2026
How has AI misconduct in court translated into lawyer discipline in Arizona?
Topics: Artificial intelligence ● ER 3.3 ● ER 1.1 ● ER 3.1 ● ER 8.4(d) ● Civil Rule 11
After-the-Representation Disclosure Day
June 2026
Does a lawyer have to provide information about a now-terminated representation to the former client or the former client’s new lawyer
Topics: ER 1.16 ● Termination of Representation
New ABA Opinion Complements Arizona Guidance on Withdrawal
February 2026
Keep ER 1.6 in mind when withdrawing from representation
Topics: Termination of Representation ● ER 1.16 ● ER 1.6
The Practice of Law is Not a Streaming Service
May 2026
May lawyers charge subscriptions, like streaming services do?
Topics: Fees ● ER 1.5 ● ER 1.15 ● Reasonableness of fees ● Safekeeping of property
It’s Time to Update Your Fee-Arbitration Provision
January 2026
Arbitration provisions in fee agreements need to say more than that the lawyer and client will submit disputes to arbitration.
Topics: Fee Agreements ● ER 1.5 ● Arbitration
2026
Trust but Verify, Because You’re Still Liable
April 2026
If you’re a subordinate, you don’t get an ethics pass just because you acted at a supervisor’s direction.
Topics: ER 5.2 ● Supervision ● Subordinate
Lawyer-Client Personal Relationship Boundaries
March 2026
When does a close relationship with a client too close?
Topics: Conflicts ● ER 1.7 ● ER 1.8 ● Sex
Dealing with Suspected Deepfake “Evidence”
December 2025
You now have a duty of reasonable inquiry if you reasonably believe evidence has been “materially altered or generated with intent to deceive the court.”
Topics: Evidence ● Deepfakes ● ER 3.3(a)
A Loose End We Can’t Tie Up
July/August 2025
One loose end we have to live with is the possibility that someone will later submit a bar charge. Because it’s never OK to ask anyone not to complain about us.
Topics: ER 1.8(h)(2) ● ER 8.4(a) ● bar charges
ER 1.8(e) and the Humanitarian Impulse
March 2025
I think the Court has rejected reading a humanitarian exception into ER 1.8(e). Safest course: Don’t rely on old State Bar ethics opinions
Topics: ER 1.8(e)
New ER 4.2 comment
November 2025
Effective 1/1/26, new comment language will allow lawyers to “advis[e]” their clients on communicating with another represented party. But what are the boundaries of doing so?
Topics: ER 4.2 ● Communicating with represented party
Client “Material Adverse Effect”
June 2025
If you want to terminate representation, what does “without material adverse effect” mean in ER 1.16(b)(1)?
Topics: Termination of Representation ● ER 1.16(b)
Communicating with Government Officials
February 2025
New ER 4.2(b) provides a procedure to preserve the right to seek redress of grievances while allowing government lawyers to protect their clients’ interests.
Topics: ER 4.2(b)
2025
Mandatory-Arb Best Practices
October 2025
Being appointed as an arbitrator is a court order. Ignoring it, not following through with your obligations, or failing to think about the ethical implications can get you in trouble. Here are five points to remember.
Topics: Mandatory arbitration ● ER 3.4 ● ER 2.4 ● ER 1.12
Client Crimes Against Their Own Attorneys
May 2025
If your client commits a crime against you, may you (the victim) report that crime to law enforcement?
Topics: Confidentiality ● ER 1.6 ● ER 1.6(d)(4)
Revised Ethics Rules for Government Lawyers
January 2025
All the stuff we’ve always had, plus more
Topics: ER 1.8(e)
Fee-Dispute Provisions
September 2025
Are time-to-dispute provisions in your fee agreement OK?
Topics: ER 1.5 ● Fee Agreements ● ER 1.8(h)(2) ● ER 1.4(a)(4)
Client Family Communications
April 2025
ER 1.4 requires lots of communication. But not with the client’s family and friends.
Topics: Communication ● ER 1.4
Review Your Fee Agreement
December 2024
Be careful not only about the contents of your fee agreements but also how you present the terms to clients.
Topics: Fee agreements ● ER 1.5 ● ER 1.4(b) ● ER 1.7(a)(2) ● Arbitration provisions
Keep Creativity Under Control Part 2i
June 2024
Contemplating creative ways to obtain evidence from another? Think about their legal rights.
Topic: ER 4.4(a)
Ethics and Generative AI
February 2024
Be careful about using generative AI.
Topics: Artificial intelligence ● Confidentiality ● Competency ● Supervision ● Fees ● Meritorious claims ● Candor
ER 8.4(d): Opaque But Not Vague
November 2024
How do you make sure you don’t engage in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice?
Topics: ER 8.4(d)
Keep Creativity Under Control Part I
May 2024
When representing clients, getting too creative in a negative way may lead to running afoul of the Ethical Rules.
Topics: ER 4.4(a) ● Rule 41(b)(7) ● ER 8.4(d)
Withdrawing from Litigation
January 2024
ER 1.16(c) gives courts the last word on withdrawing.
Topics: Termination of representation ● Withdrawal ● ER 1.16(c)
2024
NDAs are No-Gos
October 2024
Imposing an NDA on a client or potential client is anathema to the attorney–client relationship and to legal ethics.
Topics: Non-disclosure agreement ● ER 1.8(h)(2) ● Conflict
Impermissible Restrictions on the Right to Practice
April 2024
Scrutinize any employment agreements you use for not-so-obvious provisions that could impinge on a departing lawyer’s autonomy and a client’s right to choose counsel.
Topics: ER 5.6(a)
Disclosures in Email Communities (aka listservs)
September 2024
Here’s what an email community is not: Your law firm.
Topics: Confidentiality ● ER 1.6
Don’t Mess Around with ER 1.5(d)(3)
March 2024
If you charge fees earned on receipt or nonrefundable—regardless of what you call them—go review your fee agreement right now and make sure you’re complying with ER 1.5(d)(3).
Topics: Fee agreements ● ER 1.5(d)(3)
Must a lawyer report their own misconduct?
December 2023
The exact conduct that qualifies for mandatory reporting under ER 8.3 is somewhat opaque, but whatever it is, it’s not a lawyer’s own misconduct.
Topics: ER 8.3(a) ● self-reporting
A Loose End We Can’t Tie Up
July/August 2023
One loose end we have to live with is the possibility that someone will later submit a bar charge.Because it’s never OK to ask anyone not to complain about us.
Topics: ER 1.8(h)(2) ● ER 8.4(a) ● bar charges
ER 1.8(e) and the Humanitarian Impulse
March 2023
I think the Court has rejected reading a humanitarian exception into ER 1.8(e). Safest course: Don’t rely on old State Bar ethics opinions
Topics: ER 1.8(e)
Malpractice Insurance Disclosure Now Mandatory
November 2023
Arizona lawyers now will be required to tell clients directly in writing, before or at the start of the representation, if they don’t carry malpractice insurance.
Topics: ER 1.4 ● Professional liability insurance
Client “Material Adverse Effect”
June 2023
If you want to terminate representation, what does “without material adverse effect” mean in ER 1.16(b)(1)?
Topics: Termination of Representation ● ER 1.16(b)
Communicating with Government Officials
February 2023
New ER 4.2(b) provides a procedure to preserve the right to seek redress of grievances while allowing government lawyers to protect their clients’ interests.
Topics: ER 4.2(b)
2023
Making Your Small Firm Look “Big”
October 2023
In the context of a small law firm, misrepresentations intended to make it look “big” come up several ways.
Topics: Law firm names ● Misrepresentation ● Advertising
Client Crimes Against Their Own Attorneys
May 2023
If your client commits a crime against you, may you (the victim) report that crime to law enforcement?
Topics: Confidentiality ● ER 1.6 ● ER 1.6(d)(4)
Revised Ethics Rules for Government Lawyers
January 2023
All the stuff we’ve always had, plus more
Topics: ER 1.8(e)
Mastering ER 3.6 and Out-of-Court Statements
September 2023
If you’re handling a matter and want to make an out-of-court statement or distribute information using any avenue of public communication, review ER 3.6 first.
Topics: ER 3.6
Client Family Communications
April 2023
ER 1.4 requires lots of communication. But not with the client’s family and friends.
Topics: Communication ● ER 1.4
Do the (Ethical Side) Hustle
December 2022
It is ethically risky—not only for the lawyers who engage in extra- curricular law work outside of and in addition to their day-job law practices, but also for their day-job and moonlight-job firms.
Topics: Conflicts ● ER 1.7 ● ER 1.10
Shifting Metadata Lines
July/August 2022
A 2007 State Bar ethics opinion established a definitive line in the sand, concluding that lawyers could not go looking for hidden data in electronic documents received from other lawyers. The new sheriff in town has reached a somewhat different conclusion, one that establishes a different—and seemingly not definitive—line.
Topics: ER 4.4(b) ● ER 8.4(c)
“Frankenfee” Solved!
November 2022
A new comment to ER 1.5 should ele- gantly and simply solve the "Frankenfee" issue I wrote about in May.
Topics: Fees ● ER 1.5 ● Fee-sharing
The No-Contact Rule and Pro Se Lawyers
June 2022
Read ER 4.2 as meaning “in representing a client or proceeding on the lawyer’s own behalf”because that’s the way it is construed.
Topics: ER 4.2 ● Communication with a represented person
2022
A Modern Bake Sale?
October 2022
Donation-based crowdfunding for legal fees poses a raft of ethical issues for lawyers.
Topics: ER 1.8(f) ● ER 1.6 ● Confidentiality
Beware of the “Frankenfee”
May 2022
The rules now clearly allow a quid pro quo flat cash payment as a referral fee. But whether the compensation may be a share of one legal fee and, if so, how that is mechanically achieved, are unsettled.
Topics: Fees ● ER 1.5 ● Fee sharing
Pay Attention to the CC
September 2022
If you receive an email from opposing counsel on which opposing counsel has copied their client, don’t automatically “Reply All.” By copying their client, the Arizona Supreme Court says, opposing counsel is not “implicitly” consenting for the recipient to communicate with opposing counsel’s client.
Topics: ER 4.2 ● Communication with Represented Person
Modern Multipractice Jurisdiction
April 2022
ER 8.5 addresses jurisdiction and choice of law. No yawning! It’s maybe not the most exciting of ethical issues, but as multijurisdictional practice becomes increasingly easier and with the advent of nonlawyer law firm ownership, it’s critical.
Topics: Jurisdiction ● ER 8.5