Confidentiality: Part III (Non-Clients’ Misunderstanding and Mistakes) and Professionalism Issues When Lawyers and Judges Publicly Communicate

November 1, 2016

Atlanta, GA

McGuireWoods presented Tom Spahn’s annual ethics program. This two-part presentation addressed confidentiality issues during the first hour and, during the second hour, professionalism in communication.

Confidentiality: Part III

Non-Clients’ Misunderstanding and Mistakes
  • Difference between ethics and professionalism
  • How to deal with unrepresented persons who may misunderstand a lawyer’s role
  • Negotiation ethics (including adversaries’ factual or legal misunderstanding, substantive mistakes or scrivener’s errors)
  • Litigators’ disclosure duties in the face of litigation adversaries’ or courts’ misunderstanding, mistakes, or scrivener’s errors

Professionalism Issues When Lawyers and Judges Publicly Communicate

  • Civil litigation lawyers’ and prosecutors’ public communications about their cases
  • Lawyers’ public communications about judges, and the limits on criticizing judges
  • Judges’ public communications about their cases, other judges’ cases, personal matters and public policy issues

Speaker
Thomas E. Spahn, Partner, McGuireWoods LLP
Spahn has served on the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, and has spoken at more than 1,500 CLE programs on ethics and other topics. Tom was selected as the 2013 metro-Washington, D.C., “Lawyer of the Year” for “Bet the Company Litigation” by Best Lawyers®.