There are various ways in which lawyers can run into legal-related problems or issues of legal ethics including civil lawsuits, legal malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty or lawyer criminality and its consequences for discipline.
Topics: legal malpractice, legal ethics, civil lawsuits, fiduciary duty, lawyer criminality, and discipline.
LEGAL MALPRACTICE IN TEXAS
(AND MOST EVERYWHERE ELSE) A successfully prosecuted cause of action for what is generally thought of as the tort of legal malpractice is as follows: (1) The defendant attorney owed the plaintiff a duty as the result...
THE DUCK ARGUMENT
LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE. . . . Michael Sean Quinn* Occasionally one hears the following argument in court: "Men and women of the jury, 'If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, we all conclude it is a duck, ' and so it is in this...
RESPONDING TO REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION IN TEXAS
TRCP RULE 198 AND RISKS IN RESPONDING Michael Sean Quinn* A party must be cautious about writing “Admit” (“A”) as a response, given the dramatic consequences it has on or for trial and summary judgment. The responding party needs to be quite sure, since there is...
Written Discovery Problems: Definitions and Instructions
INSTRUCTION + DEFINITIONS Michael Sean Quinn* Often in written discovery in lawsuits (civil actions), one sees interrogatories (questions seeking written and sworn answers) (aka "Rogs") and requests for production (requests that the requestor be provided with or be...
Written Discovery: Dreadful Wording
"RELATED TO"/"PERTAINING TO" Michael Sean Quinn* In Requests for Production, a request is sometimes worded "All documents related to X." X might be an action, an omission, a practice, an event, or a state of affairs. In interrogatories, a question might be like...
LEGAL MALPRACTICE SUITS: ANTIFRACTURING RULE
HOW TO SUE YOUR LAWYER Michael Sean Quinn* Suppose you are a client (C) of a lawyer (L) and you believe that your lawyer has done a lousy job. So, C wants to sue L for something. What types of claims can C use? Many states have a so-called "antifracturing...
“Patrick’s Case”: A Long Short Story
SEX, CONDUCT, LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS Michael Sean Quinn* Some years ago--a mere couple of decades, really--I was involved in some informal teaching and counseling of other lawyers and assorted students. I wrote a short story, and tacked on a set of...
Tired and Tiresome Legal Cliches
WORNOUT LAWYER CLICHES Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D, J.D., Etc.* When a word is used too often, it wears out, and becomes insignificant, unconvincing, and ignored by the listener or the reader. Some terms used by lawyers are like that. Important terms become...
LEADING QUESTIONS AND DEPOSITIONS
VALUABLE-LEADING-QUESTION STRATEGIES: CREATE BETTER DEPOSITIONS Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D, J.D., Etc.* Many lawyers taking depositions focus on non-leading questions to find out what the witness is going to say. They see leading questions as restricted, or...
MORE ON AGING LAWYERS
AND THEIR PROBLEMS...HOW LONG CAN ONE KEEP GOING? Of course, case by case determinations are the real answer, and they vary from individual to individual. So get used to uncertainty. Indeed, learn to love it. However, keep the following in mind. Murray...
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