Professional Ethics Committee For the State Bar of Texas Topics: “Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, what are the responsibilities of a law firm for preserving or disposing of files of a former client after the lawyer who represented the former client leaves the firm?” Conclusion of the Committee: “…First, confidential information of […]
From the ABA Section of Litigation 2013 Annual Conference Conclusion: “The message of these ethics opinions is clear: lawyers and law firms can engage third-party vendors in the cloud to store confidential information but they must do so competently with adequate supervision and implement reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of the data. When […]
Ethics Committee Topic: Virtual Law Office, cloud computing From the Opinion: “This opinion is an examination of the ethical issues involved in a lawyer or firm’s use of a virtual law office, including cloud computing, and/or executive office suites. These issues include marketing, supervision of lawyers and nonlawyers in the firm, and competence and confidentiality when […]
New Hampshire Bar Association’s Ethics Committee (submitted for publication by the NHBA Board of Governors at its February 21, 2013 meeting) Topic: The Use of Cloud Computing in the Practice of Law Summary of the Committee: “The internet has changed the practice of law in many ways, including how data is stored and accessed. ‘Cloud […]
Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas Topics: “Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, may a lawyer obtain information regarding a potential new client’s payment history from a database containing information supplied by other lawyers on the payment history of their clients, structure an engagement agreement to provide legal services to […]
Professional Ethics Commission Topic: The Ethics of Cloud Computing and Storage Question presented to the Commission: “Is it ethical for Maine attorneys to use cloud computing and storage for client matters?” Short answer of the Commission: “Yes, assuming safeguards are in place to ensure that the attorney’s use of this technology does not result in […]
From the Introductory Paragraph: “This paper describes the changes made to the Florida Rules and highlights differences between them and their federal counterparts.” The full text available at: http://www.scribd.com…
Rules of Professional Conduct Committee Topic: use of online data storage managed by third party vendors to store confidential client documents. Conclusion of the Committee: “A lawyer may use online data storage systems to store and back up client confidential information as long as the lawyer takes reasonable care to ensure that the information […]
A publication of the American Bar Association From the Article: “Encryption is a topic that most attorneys don’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole, but it is becoming a more and more important part of security. Encryption is an electronic process to protect data. It has now reached the point where all attorneys […]
State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct Formal Opinion 2012-184 Topic: Virtual Law Office Digest of the Committee: “As it pertains to the use of technology, the Business and Professions Code and the Rules of Professional Conduct do not impose greater or different duties upon a VLO practitioner operating in the […]