“Enrolled as inactive?” “Administratively Suspended?” What does that mean?

“Enrolled as inactive?” “Administratively Suspended?” What does that mean?

Stacie Rosenzweig
National, FAQ

Over the weekend, we learned that the California State Bar “suspend[ed] 1,600 attorneys for violating rules set up after Tom Girardi allegedly stole millions.” At first blush, this sounds horrible—this many attorneys did what now? However, what that really means is that these lawyers neglected to comply with new trust account requirements (including registering their trust accounts with the State Bar, completing an annual self-assessment, and certifying that they understand and comply with trust account rules). As a result, they were “enrolled as inactive for noncompliance.”

Farewell (?) E-banking Trust Account Rules, We Hardly Knew You

Farewell (?) E-banking Trust Account Rules, We Hardly Knew You

Stacie Rosenzweig
Wisconsin, Law Practice

Effective today, Wisconsin trust account rules have sort-of caught up with the rest of the country, and finally acknowledge that electronic transactions really aren’t that scary.

Under the Rules applicable from 2016 to yesterday (which the Wisconsin Lawyer optimistically described as “modernizing” the way these things are handled), if lawyers wanted to accept electronic transactions (including credit cards) for advanced fees, they either had to set up a separate “e-banking trust account” or, if they wanted to use a primary trust account for electronic transactions (which has been described as an “all-in-one” trust account) comply with some additional security and insurance needs.

Why I Didn't Say "Hi" at the Bar Conference

Why I Didn't Say "Hi" at the Bar Conference

Stacie Rosenzweig
My weird brain

We in Wisconsin are in the middle of the State Bar Annual Meeting & Conference, right here in Milwaukee. The venue is a couple of blocks from my office so I’ve been and will be popping out.

So far, I’ve seen a few of my clients who I’ve never met in person before—I caught their name tag out of the corner of my eye, or recognized their voice from phone calls. I did not stop and approach them. I waited for them to approach me. If they didn’t, we didn’t talk at all.

Where does AI go from here?

Where does AI go from here?

Stacie Rosenzweig
Current Events, Lawyers Behaving Badly, Rules

Even though I’m posting this on the Saturday of a three-day-weekend, you’re probably not actually reading this until Tuesday or later. But if you’re as terminally online as I am, you’ve already heard about the lawyer who has used ChatGPT to perhaps accelerate his own obsolescence—allegedly, he used it to generate a whole brief, which was then filed in the Southern District of New York. (The docket and most of the pleadings are available on Court Listener.)

“When did you feel like you really ‘became’ a lawyer?”

“When did you feel like you really ‘became’ a lawyer?”

Stacie Rosenzweig
Personal, Well Being

This question was posed by the State Bar of Wisconsin on its social media today, and because I am on deadline and should be writing about [things that are my actual work] and instead I am procrastinating, I responded with a small treatise.

But it’s a topic I think is worthy of more exploration, particularly as new graduates get sworn in (thank you diploma privilege) and start working. There will be growing pains. I am 14 years in and although there are no moments where I don’t feel like a lawyer (perhaps to my family’s chagrin), I still occasionally struggle with imposter syndrome (as I think many of us do) and wonder just how I got here.

Talking Honestly About Honesty (When You Can't Really Talk About Government Ethics)

Talking Honestly About Honesty (When You Can't Really Talk About Government Ethics)

Stacie Rosenzweig
Current Events, Lawyers Behaving Badly, Rules

Yesterday, I (and several of my nerd friends, as it would turn out) spoke with Benjamin Penn for an article that ran today in Bloomberg Law about outgoing US Attorney Rachel Rollins, who was found by the Department of Justice’s inspector general to have engaged in wide-ranging violations of government ethics rules. I am not an expert in federal government ethics, far from it, so I stuck to the disciplinary implications of the alleged misconduct.

Relevant here, and to my quote that ran with the Bloomberg story, was that Rollins was found to have falsely testified, under oath, during the investigation of her other conduct (including leaking sensitive information to the press, and potential violations of the Hatch Act). I told Mr. Penn that “Bar regulators, in general, they’ll get their hackles up about any sort of dishonest conduct that has any nexus with the practice of law.”

A Belated Update So I Don’t Trigger 8.4(c) By Saying I Blog “Regularly”

A Belated Update So I Don’t Trigger 8.4(c) By Saying I Blog “Regularly”

Stacie Rosenzweig
Attorney Discipline

The problem with telling the whole world that you blog regularly about legal ethics is that you have to actually do it. And when you’ve got an elections practice in an election month, and you teach dentists, and then you take a spring break trip, and then your kid takes up soccer, and then you end up with a nasty cold, and also you have your actual work, “regularly” becomes aspirational, rather than actual.

So, I am bringing an update of a case I first wrote about in July. The update itself is tardy. So it goes.

Is there really that much daylight between a lawyer and client?

Is there really that much daylight between a lawyer and client?

Stacie Rosenzweig
FAQ, Current Events

"After completing his time on the Supreme Court, Daniel Kelly provided legal counsel to several clients, amongst which were the RNC and RPW," [Kelly’s spokesman Jim] Dick said (paywalled, sorry). "It is a maxim in the legal profession that the views of clients are not attributable to their attorneys."

But is it really true? Is there really that much distance or difference of opinion between a client and a lawyer?

When You Solicit An Ethics Nerd, You Best Not Miss

When You Solicit An Ethics Nerd, You Best Not Miss

Stacie Rosenzweig
Best Practices, My Nerd Friends

If you’ve talked to me often or long enough, or sat through any recent presentation of mine involving social media, you’ve heard me complain about the state of the attorney advertising and solicitation rules. I’ve been critical rules for some time (though, perhaps, not as vocal on this blog as I have been in the real world).

Part of my frustration is that the Rules are just that outdated. Sure, they’re post-Bates at least; they recognize that attorneys may need to rely on something other than their father’s reputation and their golf club membership to make a living. And, by and large, they try to prevent what I hope we all can agree shouldn’t happen—advertising shouldn’t be false or misleading, and it shouldn’t be coercive.

To The Passenger In Seat 26C

To The Passenger In Seat 26C

Stacie Rosenzweig
Best Practices

I couldn’t help but notice the passenger one row up and across the aisle from me on my first leg. Her laptop was on and clearly visible. The brightness on the screen was turned up to what seemed like 10000% against the dim nighttime plane lighting. She had papers strewn about her seat area, too.

In a matter of seconds, and without really trying to, I figured out she was a lawyer. Not only that, I learned what specialty she worked in, what her major upcoming deadlines were, her staffing needs for the next few months, and the fact that she was waiting for a particular federal appellate decision to guide her strategy in her case in the lower court. How did I learn this? Bright screen, high contrast, big font.

This Blog Title Was Not Written By AI

This Blog Title Was Not Written By AI

Stacie Rosenzweig
Current Events, My Nerd Friends

Joshua Browder, CEO of a company called “DoNotPay” (which bills itself as “the World’s First Robot Lawyer”*) announced on Twitter that the company would pay any person $1,000,000 (and later, $5,000,000) to cede control of their Supreme Court argument to its OpenAI-based “robot lawyer.” The lawyer or pro se party arguing the case would wear AirPods and “let our robot lawyer argue the case by repeating exactly what it says.”

Happy New Year, Have A Suspension

Happy New Year, Have A Suspension

Stacie Rosenzweig
National, Lawyers Behaving Badly

I’d like to kick off the new year of blogging with an update. Remember Alex Jones’s lawyers? The one who belatedly turned over a bunch of his client’s text messages, but with it dumped some confidential records (including medical records) of some of the the Sandy Hook families?

In what seems like lightning speed, one of the lawyers, last week Norman Pattis, was suspended for six months from the practice of law by a Connecticut judge.  (No, this was not the one in Texas who chose to close with a quote from the anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemöller. There is a lot going on here.)

Selected Thoughts From the Select Committee Summary

Selected Thoughts From the Select Committee Summary

Stacie Rosenzweig
Current Events, National, Lawyers Behaving Badly

Yesterday, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol held its last hearing and released the introductory report to its findings. The full report will not be released until tomorrow, but the summary material (which is 154 pages in itself) provides a robust roadmap.

I watched some of yesterday’s hearing, and, I’m sure, like any other member of the ethics bar who may have been listening, my ears perked up when Rep. Lofgren outlined efforts by lawyers to influence witnesses and disrupt the investigation.

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