Freivogel on Conflicts
 
 
 

 
Freivogel on Conflicts
Ground Rules and Tips
for Using this Site

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   1.
This site is not legal advice, and no one looking at these materials should assume that he or she has a lawyer-client relationship with the author.

   2.
This site is not designed for non-lawyers.  Indeed, lawyers who have not studied or dealt with conflicts of interest rules for lawyers on a regular basis will find this site a bit of a challenge. 

   3.
Over time, we attempt to gather as many cases and opinions on the categories in the Table of Contents as we can.  We are far from perfect, however.  Therefore, anyone with a live conflicts issue should use this site only as a starting point and should assume that applicable cases and opinions not cited here do exist.

   4.
The ABA, state and local ethics committees tend to have unwieldy names.  We have abbreviated our citations to give the reader just enough information to know which committee is involved.  For example, an opinion by the California State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility will appear as "Cal. Op. 1989-113 (1990)."
  
  5.
"Restatement" means the Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers.  Other Restatements will be given their full names. 

   6.
"Ethics 2000" refers to the work of  the American Bar Association Commission on the Evaluation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.  The work of the Commission is completed.  The ABA House of Delegates adopted most of the Commission's recommendations in 2002 and 2003.  The Model Rules are on the ABA Web site.  Find the Center for Professional Responsibility and look there.

   7.
We no longer endeavor to provide an Internet link for references.  The links change, and the difficulty of keeping up with the changes has proven unacceptable.

   8.
This site contains multiple references to Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., W. William Hodes, & Peter R. Jarvis, The Law of Lawyering (3rd ed. 2001), and to Ronald D. Rotunda & John S. Dzienkowski, Legal Ethics: The Lawyers Deskbook on Professional Responsibility (2006-2007).  These cites will be abbreviated to "Hazard, Hodes, and Jarvis § ___," and to "Rotunda & Dzienkowski § ___."

   9.
Several readers have pointed out that certain cases cited here have been "de-published," ordered "not to be published," "may not be cited," or the like, pursuant to various federal and state court rules.  Well, tough.  Courts too frequently have a "tin ear" for when an opinion may have precedential or educational value.  Therefore, we intend to continue citing such opinions if, in our opinion, they add to understanding of the conflicts rules.  Good lawyers read cases before citing them in briefs or opinions.  Therefore, we will leave it to readers to determine whether a case can be cited.

10.
Printing, Searching, and Navigation.  In October 2011 we switched from Apple software and hosting to Network Solutions software and hosting.  As we get more experience with this new platform, we will provide more guidance as to printing, searching, and navigation, on this site.

 11.
Freivogel on Conflicts is the sole work of William Freivogel and is not related to, affiliated with, sponsored by, or owned by any other person or entity.

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