A prominent Clayton family law firm has plunged into scandal over its handling of emailed evidence in a contentious custody dispute.

Tagged with: emails ethics Family Law Hais Hais Goldberger & Coyne Jay Fisk Sanctions

Many attorneys and law firm marketers have sounded alarms that the American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethics 20/20 is examining legal ethics issues arising from lawyers’ use of Internet-based client development tools.

Tagged with: American Bar Association ethics Internet marketing

People generally understand the difference between criminal and civil law. Criminal law is the exciting law in most television shows or movies and includes the climactic scenes in which someone confesses or is exonerated. Civil law, by contrast, is the ...

Tagged with: civility ethics

Last week, as we were driving back to my hometown for a holiday party, my children were in the backseat watching “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” on our car’s DVD system. At first, I didn’t pay much ...

Tagged with: ethics Facebook Harry Potter technology

A dismal budget situation and a lack of consensus on certain issues may inhibit legislators from passing agenda items during this year’s session of the Missouri General Assembly. As lawmakers prepare to return on Wednesday for the five-month session, the ...

Tagged with: budget campaign finance DWI ethics Missouri General Assembly Missouri Legislature Second Injury Fund

While lawmakers spent part of the year deliberating pertinent issues, focus shifted in the offseason to legislators' ethical conduct. Two state representatives and one state senator from the St. Louis area resigned in 2009. And a former speaker of the house made news in December when he exiled himself from politics after being charged with felony assault on a woman.

Tagged with: ethics Jeff Smith Rod Jetton Steve Brown T.D. El-Amin

Recent law practice management press touts the opportunities for marketing available through social networking sites. These articles, focusing as they do on growing your practice, frequently fail to mention the risks inherent in creating an online persona and how it ...

Tagged with: ethics Internet marketing social networking

This month, numerous lawmakers have proposed bills that they say would fix ethical inadequacies in state government. Several lawmakers said their efforts are also a response to the forced resignations of three lawmakers this year. On Tuesday, House Majority Leader ...

Tagged with: Charlie Shields ethics Jason Kander Steve Tilley Tim Flook

The Kansas City Star on Friday reported that the Missouri General Assembly will very likely do nothing with the various ethics reform bills currently generating dust on the shelves of the twin-headed hydra in Jefferson City. Apparently only five of ...

Tagged with: ethics Jay Nixon Matt Blunt Missouri General Assembly

“Justice is the tolerable accommodation of the conflicting interests of society, and I don’t believe there is any royal road to attain such accommodation concretely.” – Judge Learned Hand, Philip Hamburger’s “The Great Judge” Last week, the Communications Committee of ...

Tagged with: ethics judges lawyers media