Democracy's Bones A poem for our country. "No longer a union with a uniform vision, we’re divided, divisive, on a course for collision. Only the lawyers can guide us to shore." >> NJ Law Journal Jul 29, 2022
Defending an Ethics Matter: Don’t Go It Alone Since every lawyer knows that attorneys who represent themselves have fools for clients, why do so many undergo investigations, interviews, and audits without seeking advice or assistance from more experienced colleagues? >> NJ Law Journal Jun 10, 2022
Sixth Annual TWITA Awards: Recognizing Excellence in the Profession Ahmet Seyithanoglu, at 31, is the youngest-ever recipient of a TWITA (That's What I'm Talking About) Award. He is a lawyer and a humanitarian and a human rights activist. His background is fascinating, and his present conundrum is worth your contemplation. >> NJ Law Journal Mar 18, 2022
The Semi-Colon Still Is Not Your Small Intestine: Why the Bar Exam Should Test Grammar The court can assure that every bar candidate will be able to competently draft a will, interpret a contract, spot a potential ambiguity, prevent a misunderstanding, and otherwise be adept with the language. >> NJ Law Journal Feb 24, 2022
Free Advice at the Holidays: Take It From Me Heady with the joy of holiday giving, I gift you this—my inaugural column for the New Year. I call it a gift so that you will receive it smilingly. Had I dubbed it more honestly “free advice you probably don’t want to think about now,” there would be fewer smiles. >> NJ Law Journal Dec 27, 2021
Addition by Subtraction: Getting Clients in the New Age I dug deep into my dusty drawer of marketing tips from the 20th century and came up with a small handful of golden oldies—the greatest hits in client development from a time gone by. >> NJ Law Journal Nov 11, 2021
Getting to Know You: Meeting Each Other in the Emergence Restrictions are being lifted, so we can reactivate the old ways of socializing and networking. Without relinquishing the advantages of technology or disabling your office Twitter account, you can boldly step forward into the past. >> NJ Law Journal Oct 1, 2021
When Lawyers Lack a Compass: Rudy, Sidney and the Privilege to Practice Law The attorneys’ derogation of their oaths presented clear and present dangers to the governments they had sworn to defend—governments that had issued their licenses. >> NJ Law Journal Aug 13, 2021
Letter Perfect: Ethics by Initials For the past 10 years, my work has brought me regularly into the backyard of the Office of Attorney Ethics, where, in a surprising demonstration of modernity, acronyms have littered the landscape since deep in the last century. >> NJ Law Journal May 26, 2021
The Fifth Annual TWITA Awards: Recognizing Excellence in the Profession TWITA, you may recall, is the acronym for, “That’s What I’m Talking About,” and the TWITA Awards are given annually to individuals and institutions that have exemplified the best of our profession and have served with honor the bar, the public, and the law. >> NJ Law Journal April 12, 2021
As the Cloud Passes: What Lawyers Can Do This is a plea for lawyers everywhere to spend a few minutes each day to educate their families, friends and strangers who may be reluctant to accept the vaccine. Despite the bad press attorneys have suffered for decades, people still listen to us. >> NJ Law Journal March 8, 2021
I Swear to God: Taking Oaths, Seriously More than ever, democracy is counting on lawyers to uphold the law and support the government. You might not remember signing up for this war, but you did. >> NJ Law Journal January 19, 2021
The Care and Feeding of Clients: An Owner’s Guide Clients are valuable people, indeed, but they are hard to acquire and easy to lose, so, we try to take care of them. They need to know we appreciate their business and their confidence. >> NJ Law Journal December 18, 2020
Back in the Day: Reflections at Mid-career Most of the changes in the practice of law are irreversible. But there are some that should be reversed, and, at the risk of appearing melancholic, I suggest here a few. >> NJ Law Journal November 16, 2020
Getting the Bugs Out: Preparing for the Next Phase The pandemic will eventually go away. The Office of Attorney Ethics will not. While you are working out the bugs in your new COVID-friendly practice, take a look at how else you might avoid problems down the line. >> NJ Law Journal October 9, 2020
What’s in a Name? The Ethics of Competitive Keyword Advertising Essentially, New Jersey allows the practice of competitive keyword advertising, provided that the advertisement does not redirect the searcher to the advertiser’s site. Nevertheless, the practice is unethical in the greater sense of the word “ethics.” >> NJ Law Journal September 2, 2020
New Days, New Ways: Exploring the 'Of Counsel' Option The new legal landscape will have novel features, including the proliferation of “of counsel” relationships. If such an arrangement will be in your future, go boldly forward, but know the few rules that pertain. >> NJ Law Journal July 31, 2020
The Fourth Annual TWITA Awards Our nominating committee has spent months scouring the legal landscape in my old Subaru, looking for worthy candidates for this year's "That's What I'm Talking About" awards. Here are the results. >> NJ Law Journal June 26, 2020
Your Attorney Trust Account: What You Need to Know The bookkeeping rules for lawyers are neither numerous nor complicated. It is your job to know them. >> NJ Law Journal May 22, 2020
Lessons from a Killer: Legal Ethics and Empathy Remember the lessons of crisis and peril. From today, dear colleagues, act as if we need each other, as if we’ll be there for each other in times of need—because we will be. >> NJ Law Journal April 14, 2020
Come On, This is Easy: Avoiding Discipline Getting out of trouble is good; avoiding trouble is better. It’s also easier. >> NJ Law Journal March 12, 2020
Professions, Professionals and Professionalism We must act as one would expect of a member in good standing of this dignified and honorable profession. And what, pray tell, is that? What behavior and what demeanor characterize the reasonably professional attorney in the 21st century? >> NJ Law Journal February 10, 2020
In the Spirit of the Season: Free Advice LEGAL ETHICS: The Rules that trip us up are simple and few. We are expected to know them. We often don’t. >> NJ Law Journal December 30, 2019
The Dismembering of Bar Associations: An American Tragedy The next time you receive an invitation to join a bar association or attend one of their events, see this as an opportunity. Besides helping your career, you would be supporting an endangered species. >> NJ Law Journal December 6, 2019
Lawyers and Tradition: Justice Albin Takes Center Stage The Justice reminded us that traditions are not immutable. In fact, much of what we call tradition is merely some social value played out in a public forum more than once. >> NJ Law Journal October 11, 2019
The Fifth Annual TWITA Awards: Honoring the Profession’s Best TWITA, the acronym for "That's What I'm Talking About," is awarded annually to individuals and organizations for exceptional service to the legal profession and their commitment to just causes. >> NJ Law Journal September 9, 2019
What on Earth Were You Thinking? Getting Caught Breaking the Rules Many lawyers believe that receiving an Ethics Complaint is a worst-case scenario. Not so. Things can still get worse. >> NJ Law Journal March 21, 2019
'Jersey Jones': Ordinary Lawyers and the Quest for the Morphing Truth As lawyers, we wear many hats. Among them is a crown designating us Keepers of the Truth. We didn’t ask for it. It came with job. Good luck with the quest. >> NJ Law Journal November 8, 2018
'Quicksand! Multijurisdictional Law Firms and the Unauthorized Practice of Law' Today's multijurisdictional practice is likely to be a solo or small partnership, house counsel, legal staff member, or good Samaritan swirled into the interconnectivity of the modern legal milieu. >> NJ Law Journal August 2, 2018
'The Second Annual TWITA Awards' This year's honorees join a long line—well, a short line, really; more like a hyphen—of previous TWITA award winners whose service to the profession has been extraordinary. >> NJ Law Journal May 31, 2018
'The Attorney’s Field Guide to Losing Your License' A DIY handbook for going beyond censure. Refer to this guide when you sense you’re near the line or you don’t know where the line is. >> NJ Law Journal April 6, 2018
'‘I Wasn’t Myself’: Mental Illness and Legal Ethics' The attorney disciplinary system in New Jersey is structured to allow—nay, to encourage —treatment and rehabilitation. >> NJ Law Journal February 15, 2018
King of the Mountain Judicial Intrigue and ‘Mount Laurel IV’ >> NJ Law Journal December 25, 2017
The 'Legato' Case: Lawyers, Sex Crimes and the Great Conundrum A look at a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling in a disciplinary matter, which attracted abundant pubic attention, and where the majority opinion and the dissent — at complete loggerheads — are both right. >> NJ Law Journal October 30, 2017
I Don't Want to Ruin Your Day ... A brief overview of what happens when a grievance or complaint is filed against you with the Office of Attorney Ethics. >> NJ Law Journal September 11, 2017
Water Runs Uphill Here: Navigating Legal Ethics Much about an ethics matter is counter-intuitive, especially for litigators. Understand that you are in a different dimension at every interface you have with the OAE. >> NJ Law Journal July 17, 2017
Ethics Upon Ethics: The Attorney's Dilemma In practice, lawyers have two codes of ethics: their personal moral compass, and the Rules of Professional Conduct. Sometimes there is discord between these two ethical guides. >> NJ Law Journal May 29, 2017
Your Reputation Precedes You, Counsel Our reputations and our practices are damaged whenever negative information is published in any way. Here are some options for fighting back. >> NJ Law Journal April 24, 2017
The First Annual TWITA Awards TWITA, the acronym for, "That's What I'm Talking About!" is my personal enterprise, whose mission is to identify and acknowledge groups and individuals whose service to lawyers or to the law exemplifies the best of our profession. >> NJ Law Journal March 27, 2017
I am Your Sword and Your Shield This month's column is about a lawyer's imperative to race into the breach to defend the Constitution. Lawyers have a sacred obligation to defend the Union from tyranny. >> NJ Law Journal February 13, 2017
Reversing the Tide: Restoring Public Confidence in Lawyers A call to attorneys to treat the Rules of Professional Conduct with the respect they require. Our adherence to them must be closer to their heart than to their edges. >> NJ Law Journal January 23, 2017
The Ten Commandments of Defensive Lawyering Reminders, suggestions and pointers to help lawyers navigate the perilous waters of practice, avoiding malpractice claims and ethics problems. >> NJ Law Journal December 12, 2016
Marc’s Remarks to the NJSBA Subcommittee on Judicial Independence in Municipal Court >> 2016
Caveat Arbiter: Judicial Conduct and the ACJC RPC 8.3 provides a remedy for judicial misconduct; you need not sit in silence as some rogue, unfit or substandard judge wreaks havoc upon justice. >> NJ Law Journal October 10, 2016
Random Compliance Audits: Preparing for the Bogeyman Knowing more about random audit process might set attorneys' minds at ease. >> NJ Law Journal September 12, 2016
Pop Quiz: What Would You Do? Our legal-ethics expert tests your knowledge. >> NJ Law Journal August 5, 2016
What If I...? An ethics attorney shares the three questions he hears most often, and his advice on those matters. >> NJ Law Journal July 11, 2016
The Semicolon Is Not Your Small Intestine The Supreme Court should consider standards and testing for attorneys' grammatical competence. >> NJ Law Journal June 14, 2016
Walking the Line As lawyers, no one is watching us or monitoring our decisions for compliance with the rules; but be prepared to defend any decision you make. >> NJ Law Journal May 4, 2016
The Judge's Name is 'Your Honor' We should educate our clients and retrain ourselves to treat the court system with greater respect. >> NJ Law Journal April 6, 2016
Damned if you do: Reporting misconduct under RPC8.3 RPC 8.3 requires attorneys to report misconduct by attorneys to the Office of Attorney Ethics. We look at where the lines are drawn. >> NJ Law Journal March 9, 2016
What's My Name?: Labels, titles, ego, and the bar The OAE takes great interest in how we hold ourselves out to the public. This article sheds some light on what we can say and how we may say it. >> NJ Law Journal February 8, 2016
Minding Your Own Business: Attorneys with ancillary commercial interests For those attorneys who try their hands at business, special rules apply. Violating those rules may result in ethical violations and worse. This column looks at what lawyers need to know when they go into a business other than lawyering. >> NJ Law Journal January 14, 2016
Riding Shotgun: Helping Colleagues in Need The best way to avoid human error is to submit our intended actions for review by another human. Since you are a lawyer, that other human should be a lawyer, too. >> NJ Law Journal December 8, 2015
The Way You Do the Things You Do Each of these scenarios involves the Rules of Professional Conduct, which establish guidelines and protocol for attorney behavior, ostensibly to protect our clients, but ultimately protecting us. >> NJ Law Journal November 4, 2015
Tell Me What I'm Looking At: Ethics Violations and the Quantum of Discipline When faced with an Ethics Committee Grievance or Complaint, attorneys, for reasons lodged deep in the human psyche, fear the worst. Suspension. Disbarment. Prison. So when they speak to me for the first time, their most pressing question usually is, “What is going to happen to me?” >> NJ Law Journal October 12, 2015
Fee Simple: Ethics, Money and the Reasonable Lawyer Students of human history can glean valuable information about any society’s morality and standards by looking at its rules and laws. >> NJ Law Journal September 14, 2015
A Fool for a Lawyer: Going Pro Se before the Ethics Committee Since an Ethics complaint may be the most dramatic event in our professional universe, eclipsing in impact even malpractice suits or wrongful termination, it is ironic that the affected attorneys are so often reluctant to retain legal counsel. >> NJ Law Journal August 10, 2015
That Dog Won't Hunt: Lawyers, Clients, and Frivolous Litigation In our litigious world, where attorneys are rewarded handsomely for aggressively pursuing and defending legal assaults, and where novel, creative legal arguments are hallmarks of superior advocacy, the defining edge between good lawyering and abuse of process is not always clear. >> June 30, 2015
Whatever You Don't Say Will Be Held Against You It used to be that a “criminal attorney” was a lawyer who defended people accused of crime. Regrettably, that same description, “criminal attorney,” is also an apt description of a lawyer who has been convicted of, or admitted to, a crime. >> NJ Law Journal June 8, 2015
Do We Need the RPCs? For us there are only the Rules. They are your compass, your lodestar, your guide. They must rule your actions and your decisions. >> NJ Law Journal April 13, 2015
Alphabet Soup: The Acronyms of Ethics In many states, the training, licensing and disciplining of attorneys is the province of attorneys general (AGs), and not of attorneys, in general, as we have in New Jersey. >> NJ Law Journal February 16, 2015
‘My Client Didn’t Mean That’ We attorneys fall on our swords for our clients. Sometimes we try to make even in our worst clients look good, even at our own expense. Sometimes we bend over backwards when we shouldn't. We take a look at some common pitfalls. >> NJ Law Journal December 8, 2014
You Don't Say! Some Thoughts on Attorney Advertising This is a peek into attorney advertising. We look at the history and development of advertising by lawyers, and some of the issues which concern the OEA's Committee on Advertising. >> NJ Law Journal October 13, 2014
Oh No! The Random Audit Few matters are as unsettling as notice of an Ethics Audit, random or otherwise. Here are some observations and helpful insights for attorneys confronted with, or representing a colleague at, an audit. >> NJ Law Journal August 11, 2014
Guardians at the Gate My most widely-read article, this is an overview of the Committee on Character, written as a primer for the candidate and the practitioner who may be looking at an RG 303 hearing. There is little other literature on this topic. >> NJ Law Journal June 9, 2014
A Rule That Is ‘More Honored in the Breach’ We all have an obligation to report unfit or unethical attorneys under RPC 8.3. Would you? >> NJ Law Journal April 14, 2014
For various reasons, attorneys often respond to, or appear before, the Office of Attorney Ethics without professional advice or representation. This is usually foolish. I tell you why. >> The Essex County Municipal Court Committee Newsletter September 2014
Reflections on the Fairness of Passion in Advocacy >> I couldn't believe I was to have the opportunity to speak at this symposium. In choosing this satirical discourse, I wanted the audience to consider some of the ethical questions that arise from ardent, strident, or zealous argumentation.
