When someone consults Rule 1.6, Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC), concerning the confidentiality of information relating to the representation of a client, at first glance she might think that almost nothing truly is confidential at all.  Rule 1.6(b) lists ten situations in which a lawyer may reveal otherwise confidential>>>

The Minneapolis StarTribune recently published a series of articles and an editorial concerning the state’s Board of Medical Practices, and one on possible legislative response.  The crux of their articles concerns the amount of information available to the public about the board’s investigations and decisions.  The editorial called for>>>

In calendar year 2011, the Director’s Office resolved 112 files with admonitions that were issued to Minnesota attorneys for isolated and nonserious violations of the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC).  Another 13 lawyers entered into stipulations for private probation that were approved by the Lawyers Board chair; these>>>

As we are deep into the holiday season as I write this column, it’s not too soon to look back at the disciplinary results of 2011 and forward to any changes expected in 2012.  The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and the Office of the Director of Lawyers Professional Responsibility submit an annual report to the Minnesota Supreme Court>>>

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty. —John D. Rockefeller As I near the end of the second year of my term as a volunteer in Minnesota’s lawyer discipline system, I appreciate what a great privilege it has been to work alongside so many great volunteers over the>>>

Ray Bradbury made the number 451 famous.1 The number 461, however, is not particularly remarkable, just an odd number with little previous significance attached to it. I’m old enough to remember that Eric Clapton recorded an album entitled 461 Ocean Boulevard, but that was just the address of a house he lived in while making the record; it>>>

Anot infrequent underlying cause of lawyer complaints and misconduct is when the lawyer attempts to handle a matter in an area of law with which she is not familiar. The criminal defense lawyer who tries to represent a personal injury plaintiff; the real estate lawyer handling a relative’s contested marital dissolution; the corporate lawyer>>>

“Client Security Board Approves Claims.”  So reads the standard headline to the press release issued by the Minnesota Client Security Board (CSB) following one of its quarterly meetings.  This flat, nondescriptive statement hardly does justice to the workings of the board, the volunteers who serve on it, or the staff hours that this office>>>

All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.  —Edmund Burke1 As I write this month’s column, we are in the first weeks of the partial shutdown of state government.  Obviously, our leaders in the Legislative and Executive branches of state government>>>

There are Rules of Professional Conduct with which an active attorney crosses paths almost every day. Whether the attorney stops to think about it or not, the rules on competence, diligence, communication, fees, confidentiality and others are an integral part of a lawyer’s daily existence; if not, then they should be. Then there are some>>>