Product Description

Recent updates:

• Update: February 2024

  Dear Subscriber:

  Thank you for updating your reference library with the 2024 edition of Ethical Lawyering in Massachusetts. This latest version brings updated resources within your immediate reach—for fast, accurate, and practical answers to your questions.

  Highlights from the many issues addressed in this edition include:

  • a restructuring of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct (the rules) provisions on advertising and solicitation of clients, including an amendment to Rule 7.3 permitting live person-to-person solicitation of nonfamily members with whom the attorney has a "close personal" relationship;

  • disciplinary decisions on deceptive firm names, domain names, and Internet advertising keywords;

  • application of the rules to pro se attorneys;

  • numerous detailed descriptions of attorney misconduct resulting in discipline;

  • recent amendments to the rules addressing sexual relationships between lawyers and their clients;

  • an amendment to the rules and a recent Supreme Judicial Court decision clarifying the scope of the term "confidential information" as applied to the protection of client confidences;

  • a Chapter 93A action against a firm's former attorneys;

  • ethics issues arising in practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office;

  • updated guidance on cloud computing and remote working arrangements;

  • the ethics considerations arising from leaving a law firm or withdrawing from representing a client;

  • the rules governing cross-border remote practice;

  • a Supreme Judicial Court decision finding that an attorney's racism and bigotry created an actual conflict of interest with the client; and

  • the implications of using artificial intelligence (AI) in legal practice.

  We trust that you will find this latest version of Ethical Lawyering in Massachusetts an invaluable resource for your busy practice.

  Cordially,

  MCLE Press

Table of Contents

Chapter 01 expand

Sources of Ethical Authority in Massachusetts

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Gilda Tuoni Russell,

Chapter 02 expand

Lawyer Marketing

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David A. Kluft, Esq., Office of Bar Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Chapter 03 expand

Taking the Case: Conflicts of Interest

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Anthony E. Abeln, Esq., Morrison Mahoney LLP
Alan Everett Brown, Esq., Morrison Mahoney LLP

Chapter 04 expand

The Attorney-Client Relationship

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Jeffrey D. Woolf, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Exhibit 4A

- Sample Letter of Proposed Representation Buy Form

Exhibit 4B

- Sample Fee Agreement Buy Form

Chapter 05 expand

Fee Agreements

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Timothy J. Dacey, III, Esq., Goulston & Storrs, PC

Exhibit 5A

- Contingent Fee Agreement Form A Buy Form

Exhibit 5B

- Contingent Fee Agreement Form B Buy Form

Exhibit 5C

- Model Fee Agreements Buy Form

Chapter 06 expand

Duties to Clients

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James S. Bolan, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP

Chapter 07 expand

Duties to Colleagues

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Gwen Nolan King, Esq., Nolan King Law

Chapter 08 expand

Duties to Courts

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Sara N. Holden, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP

Chapter 09 expand

Duties to Third Parties

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Sara N. Holden, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP

Chapter 10 expand

Getting Paid

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Heather L. LaVigne, Esq., Office of Bar Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Chapter 11 expand

The Disciplinary Process

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James S. Bolan, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP
Sara N. Holden, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP

Exhibit 11A

- Diversion Program Policy Statement Buy Form

Exhibit 11B

- Provisions on Reinstatement (Supreme Judicial Court Rule 4:01, § 18) Buy Form

Exhibit 11C

- Board of Bar Overseers Policies and Practices Buy Form

Chapter 12 expand

Ethics Issues for Business Lawyers

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Holly Jones, Maselan & Jones, PC
Mary A. McCooe, Esq., Maselan & Jones, PC

Exhibit 12A

- Letter Agreement Regarding Consent to Multiple Representation of Initial Investors in Organizing a Corporation and Acting as Its General Counsel Buy Form

Exhibit 12B

- Letter Agreement Regarding Lawyer Serving on Board of Directors Buy Form

Exhibit 12C

- Consent to Representation When General Counsel Is a Shareholder or Is Investing in the Corporation on Formation Buy Form

Chapter 13 expand

Ethics Issues in Insurance Defense

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Anthony E. Abeln, Esq., Morrison Mahoney LLP
Alan Everett Brown, Esq., Morrison Mahoney LLP

Chapter 14 expand

Ethics Issues for Personal Injury Lawyers

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Philip N. Beauregard, Esq., Beauregard, Burke & Franco
Michael Franco, Esq., Beauregard, Burke & Franco

Exhibit 14A

- Mass. R. Civ. P. 1.5(f), Form A Buy Form

Exhibit 14B

- Mass. R. Civ. P. 1.5(f), Form B Buy Form

Exhibit 14C

- Contingent Fee Letter Buy Form

Chapter 15 expand

Ethics Issues in Intellectual Property

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Jerry Cohen, Esq., Burns & Levinson LLP

Chapter 16 expand

Ethics in Estate Planning

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Melissa Langa, Esq., Bove Langa Witherell & Soiffer
Molly R. Soiffer, Esq., Bove Langa Witherell & Soiffer P.C.

Exhibit 16A

- Sample Physician Statement (Client Competent) Buy Form

Exhibit 16B

- Sample Physician Statement (Client Not Competent) Buy Form

Exhibit 16C

- Sample Engagement Letter for Spouses (Joint Representation) Buy Form

Exhibit 16D

- Sample Withdrawal Letter When a Joint Representation Fails Buy Form

Exhibit 16E

- Checklist for Joint Representation Buy Form

Exhibit 16F

- Guide for Representing Members of the Same Family Buy Form

Exhibit 16G

- Sample Conflict Waiver Buy Form

Exhibit 16H

- Excerpt from “Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity,” by Constance V. Vecchione, Esq. Buy Form

Chapter 17 expand

Ethics Issues for Divorce and Family Lawyers

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Donald L. Pitman, III, Esq., The Pitman Law Offices LLC

Chapter 18 expand

Ethics Issues for Government Lawyers

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Joseph M. Makalusky, Esq., Office of Bar Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers
Tasha Marshall, Esq., Office of Bar Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Chapter 19 expand

Ethics Issues for Real Estate Lawyers

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Adam C. LaFrance, Esq., Office of Bar Counsel, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

Chapter 20 expand

Ethics Issues for Civil Litigators

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Daniel K. Gelb, Esq., Gelb & Gelb LLP
Gail Kleven Gelb, Esq., Gelb & Gelb LLP
Richard M. Gelb, Esq., Gelb & Gelb LLP

Chapter 21 expand

Criminal Trial Practice

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Stuart M. Hurowitz, Esq., Committee for Public Counsel Services

Exhibit 21A

- Resources Buy Form

Chapter 22 expand

Ethics, Risk, and Malpractice Avoidance

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James S. Bolan, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP
Sara N. Holden, Esq., Brecher, Wyner, Simons, Fox & Bolan LLP

Checklist 22.1

- Prospective Client Checklist Buy Form

Checklist 22.2

- Documentation Checklist Buy Form

Checklist 22.3

- Office Telephone Procedures Checklist Buy Form

Checklist 22.4

- Confidentiality Checklist Buy Form

Checklist 22.5

- Conflicts Checklist Buy Form

Checklist 22.6

- Basic Law Office Requirements Checklist Buy Form

Exhibit 22A

- Multiple Representations Create Conflict Hazards Buy Form

Exhibit 22B

- First American Title Insurance Company Agency Review Summary Buy Form

Exhibit 22C

- Loss Prevention Self-Audit Buy Form

Exhibit 22D

- Ten Ways to Decrease Stress . . . and Avoid Legal Malpractice Buy Form

Exhibit 22E

- Sample Conflicts Check Form Buy Form

Exhibit 22F

- Outline of Massachusetts Legal Malpractice Law Buy Form

Exhibit 22G

- Twenty-four Top Rules of the Road Buy Form

Exhibit 22H

- Discipline and Malpractice Standards: When Rules Catch Up with Reality (“World Series” Edition) Buy Form

Exhibit 22I

- You Mail, I Mail, We All Send Email Buy Form

Exhibit 22J

- “In-House” and “Out-House”4 Buy Form

Exhibit 22K

- Sample Client Fee Agreement Buy Form

Exhibit 22L

- Sample Records Management Policy Buy Form

Chapter 23 expand

Researching Ethics Issues

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Paul R. Tremblay, Esq., Boston College Law School

Appendices expand

Appendices

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Appendix A

- Self-Audits for Law Offices Buy Form

Appendix B

- SJC Rule 3:16: Practicing with Professionalism Course for New Lawyers Buy Form

Appendix C

- MBA Statement on Lawyer Professionalism Buy Form

Appendix D

- Civility Guidelines for Family Law Attorneys Buy Form

Appendix E

- List of Ethics Research Websites and Resources Buy Form

Editor(s)

Author(s)