Subjects from A to Z
Accommodation of Non-Affiliated Lawyer (1)
Appellate Practice (3)
Arbitration (1)
Asset Evaluation (5)
Attorney Charging Lien (1)
Avoiding Malpractice Claims (5)
Bankruptcy (4)
Business Transaction Risk Management (2)
Business Transactions with Clients (1)
Champerty (1)
Checklists (27)
- A Checklist for Avoiding Inadvertent Disclosure of Confidential Information and Privileged Communications
- A Checklist for Risk Managing Settlements
- An Attorney is Leaving the Firm; Now What?
- Are You Competent To Accept A Matter That Will Require Extensive E-Discovery?
- Are You Ready For The Next Scam Targeting Lawyers?
- Avoiding Legal Malpractice and Bar Complaints in Family Law Cases
- Cell Phone Spyware Facts
- Client Contact Sheet
- Client Screening - Can you Spot an Unworthy Client?
- Closing Letters: When Does A Client Become a Former Client?
- Common Real Estate Malpractice Errors
- Conflict Avoidance: Top Ten List
- Deciding Whether To Use New Technology To Transmit Or Store Confidential Client Information
- Do I Need To Encrypt This Email?
- Fee Disputes and Legal Malpractice
- How to Avoid Complaints and Claims in Divorce Representations by Using a Comprehensive Client Communication Plan
- Immigration Client Information Checklist
- L + C3 = RM2, A Formula for Malpractice Risk Management
- Law Practice Assessment
- Lawyers Mutual’s Checklist for Business Transaction Risk Management
- Letters of Engagement are a Hot Topic with Insurers and Risk Managers
- Risk Management Analysis
- Risk Management Checklists For Maternity Leave
- Risk Managing Conflicts of Interest when Advising the Elderly in Estate Planning
- Structured Settlements
- The Ten Commandments of Real Estate Closings
- What Happens To Your Clients If Something Happens to You?: Checklists for Closing a Practice
Client Confidentiality (10)
- A Checklist for Avoiding Inadvertent Disclosure of Confidential Information and Privileged Communications
- Are You Ready For An E-Device U.S. Border Search – AKA Digital Strip Search?
- Breaching Client Confidentiality - Duh?
- Carelessness with Client Files Exposes Two Law Firms to Serious Malpractice Exposure
- Pillow Talk and Client Confidentiality Are Not a Good Match
- Q: What’s in a Client’s Name?
- The "New New" Thing in Inadvertent Disclosure - Risk Managing Redaction
- The Growing Threats to Client (and Firm) Data - Managing Technology to Meet the Challenges
- The Internet's Impact on Client Screening Risk Management
- What is Your Responsibility for Loss of Client Confidentiality and Client Privacy When Your Firm Computer and Internet Devices are Hacked?
Client Trust Accounts (12)
- ABA House of Delegates Approves New Model Rules for Client Trust Account Recordkeeping
- Bank Failure Exposes Lawyer to Liability for Trust Fund Loss
- Bankruptcy – Client Trust Accounts
- Client Trust Account Horror Story
- Client Trust Account: Principles & Management for Kentucky Lawyers 2nd Edition
- Credit Cards, Firm Trust Accounts and Thou
- Double Signature Checks Aren't What They Used to Be
- How Safe is the Bank that Holds Your Client Trust Account?
- Risk Management Lessons Learned from Other Jurisdictions: Negligent Escrow Agent Referrals
- Risk Managing the Ethical Duty to Pay Vendors
- Test Your Client Trust Account IQ
- The Check 21 Act and Client Trust Accounts
Clients (27)
- Beware of Business Client-Imposed Guidelines on Outside Counsel
- Client Files Part I: How Long Should You Keep Client Files?
- Client Files Part II: How to Properly Close and Destroy Client Files
- Client Screening - Can you Spot an Unworthy Client?
- Closed Client File Retention Policy: Best Practices
- Closing a Kentucky Law Office: A Guide for After the Death of a Kentucky Sole Practitioner
- Closing Letters: When Does A Client Become a Former Client?
- Federal Beneficial Ownership Information Rule: Obligations of Lawyers to Clients and Firms
- Golden Oldies, The Graying of Professional Responsibility
- How to Fire a Client
- Investing in Client.com
- KBA Ethics Opinion E-436 Provides Updated Guidance on Retention and Disposal of Closed Client Files
- Missing Client: I Can't Find My Client!
- Negligent Advice Malpractice Claims
- Prospective Clients, Neither Fish Nor Foul
- Q: What’s in a Client’s Name?
- Risk Managing the Delicate Representation of an Abused Client or One with Diminished Capacity
- Risk Managing Withdrawal for a Client’s Failure to Pay Fees
- Taking On Someone Else's Dissatisfied Client
- The Amazing Client Electronic Files
- The Delicate Ethical Requirements of Representing a Person With Diminished Capacity
- The Secret Life of Client Files
- What Are a Transaction Lawyer’s Due Diligence Requirements When a Client’s Matter Raises a Suspicion of Illegality?
- What Constitutes Reasonable Diligence in Attempting to Locate a Missing Client?
- What we Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
- When Does a Potential Client Become a Prospective Client?
- When is a Client Not a Client and Vice Versa?
Computers (14)
- Officer And Director Liability For Cyber Security Attacks
- Are YOU Competent in Computer-Assisted Legal Research - CALR?
- Are You Competent to Practice the New Law of Lawyer Technology Competence?
- Are You Ready For An E-Device U.S. Border Search – AKA Digital Strip Search?
- Attorney’s Liability For Data Breaches
- Computer Malpractice Risks
- Deciding Whether To Use New Technology To Transmit Or Store Confidential Client Information
- Do I Need To Encrypt This Email?
- Ethics Still Apply: Even When Your Head Is In The 'Cloud'
- Ten Technology Traps and How to Avoid Them
- The Amazing Client Electronic Files
- What is Your Responsibility for Loss of Client Confidentiality and Client Privacy When Your Firm Computer and Internet Devices are Hacked?
- What Kentucky Lawyers Need to Know about the Ethics and Risk Management of Cloud Computing
- When is LinkedIn Attorney Advertising?
Conflicts of Interest (9)
- Are You Sure You Understand the Difference Between When It Is OK to "Reveal" Client Confidential Information and When It is OK to "Use" Client Confidential Information?
- Conflict Avoidance: Top Ten List
- Conflicts of Interest, Waiver Letters
- Dropping a Client to Take A New Client - The Hot Potato Client
- Investing in Client.com
- L + C3 = RM2, A Formula for Malpractice Risk Management
- The Kentucky Supreme Court Dumps the "Appearance of Impropriety" Conflict of Interest Standard
- What Do Hot Potato Clients Have in Common With Thrust Upon Clients?
- What Do You Do When a Joint Client Revokes a Conflict Waiver?
Consumer Issues (1)
Contract Lawyers (2)
Corporate Director (1)
Cryptocurrency (1)
Cyber Security Risk Management (7)
- Officer And Director Liability For Cyber Security Attacks
- Are You Competent to Practice the New Law of Lawyer Technology Competence?
- Are You Ready For An E-Device U.S. Border Search – AKA Digital Strip Search?
- Attorney’s Liability For Data Breaches
- Can Defense Counsel Show They Are Cyber Secure?
- Ethics Still Apply: Even When Your Head Is In The 'Cloud'
- Top Takeaways: 2023 Hinshaw Legal Malpractice and Risk Management Conference
Damages (3)
- Another One Bites The Dust! Civil Rule 8.01 Takes Out Plaintiffs (And Their Counsel)
- Keeping Up With Fratzke v. Murphy: Recent Court of Appeals Case Offers Opportunity for Avoiding Malpractice When Plaintiff Lawyer Fails to Seasonably Answer Interrogatories Requesting Specification of Damages
- Kentucky Supreme Court in a Landmark Decision Addresses "Suit Within a Suit", Emotional Distress Claims, and Punitive Damages in Legal Malpractice Claims
Debt Collection (3)
Defense Counsel (3)
Disaster Planning (11)
- Cancer Strikes Two Lawyers and Leads to Harsh Results
- Client Notification Requirements in the Wake of a Disaster
- Closing a Kentucky Law Office: A Guide for After the Death of a Kentucky Sole Practitioner
- Disaster Planning Series #1: Back-ups for your Who, What, When
- Disaster Planning Series #2: Checklist: Preparing Your Agreement with Your Back-Up Attorney
- Disaster Planning Series #3: Checklist: Preparing Information for Your Back-Up Attorney
- Disaster Planning Series #4: Your Client Dies During Litigation. Now What?
- Disaster Planning Series #5: Ethical Considerations and The Cloud
- Getting Physical - Are You Ready for an Office Catastrophe?
- Risk Managing Closed And Abandoned Practices
- What Happens To Your Clients If Something Happens to You?: Checklists for Closing a Practice
Divorce (7)
- Divorce Malpractice Style: Inadequate Advice on Financial Terms
- Family Law: Post-Divorce Risk Management
- How to Avoid Complaints and Claims in Divorce Representations by Using a Comprehensive Client Communication Plan
- Keeping Up with the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA) Is a Risk Management Must for Kentucky Lawyers Whose Practice Includes Divorce Matters
- Know Your Options in Divorce: Evaluating Stock Option Marital Assets
- Nationwide Family Lawyers Struggle with Marital Assets Settlements
- QDROs, Pensions, and Malpractice
Document Destruction (1)
E-Discovery (3)
Email Risk Management (6)
- Email Plays Significant Part in Overruling Summary Judgment in Favor of Defendant Lawyer in Malpractice Suit
- Failure to Risk Manage Spam Email Costs Firm Opportunity to Appeal Assessment of Attorney's Fees as High as $1,000,000
- How Should a Firm Manage Email Sent to the Firm for a Lawyer No Longer Associated with the Firm?
- Reasons Not to Use "cc:" "bcc:" or "reply all:" When Copying Emails to a Client
- Risk Managing Email
- Web-Bugged Emails – aka "Spymail"
Environmental Law (1)
Escrow Agent (1)
Expert Witnesses (2)
Family Law (2)
Federal Practice (1)
Fees (16)
- "A Computer Virus Ate My Billing Records" is No Defense to a Bar Complaint Over Fees
- Avoiding Fee Disputes - When Are Advance Fees Earned?
- Bizarre Billing Practice Defeats Firm’s Collection Suit for $332,569
- Credit Cards, Firm Trust Accounts and Thou
- Do You Know the Ethics Rules for Increasing Fees During a Representation?
- Does Your Client Have Insurance For Litigation Expenses?
- Fee Disputes and Legal Malpractice
- Getting Paid in Hard Economic Times
- Investing in Client.com
- Kentucky Supreme Court Spells Out When A Lawyer Who Is Discharged Or Withdraws From A Contingency Fee Case Is Entitled To A Quantum Merit Fee
- Risk Managing Disputed Shared Fee Division
- Risk Managing Withdrawal for a Client’s Failure to Pay Fees
- Should You Accept Credit Cards for Fee Payments?
- The Perils of Splitting Fees
- Top Takeaways: 2023 Hinshaw Legal Malpractice and Risk Management Conference
- Your New Client Wants to Pay Your Fee by Crowdfunding on the Internet.
Files (14)
- Are You Ready For An E-Device U.S. Border Search – AKA Digital Strip Search?
- Carelessness with Client Files Exposes Two Law Firms to Serious Malpractice Exposure
- Client Files Part I: How Long Should You Keep Client Files?
- Client Files Part II: How to Properly Close and Destroy Client Files
- Client Files – Risk Managing Client E-Mail
- Closed Client File Retention Policy: Best Practices
- Closing a Kentucky Law Office: A Guide for After the Death of a Kentucky Sole Practitioner
- Documenting the File Involves Much More Than You May Think
- Does Your Firm Have a “BYOD to Work” Risk Management Program?
- Don't Let the Cloud Rain on Your Practice
- KBA Ethics Opinion E-436 Provides Updated Guidance on Retention and Disposal of Closed Client Files
- The Amazing Client Electronic Files
- The Growing Threats to Client (and Firm) Data - Managing Technology to Meet the Challenges
- The Secret Life of Client Files
Financial Transactions with Clients (2)
Immigration (4)
Impaired Lawyers (3)
Incidents of Potential Malpractice (1)
Insurance Malpractice Issues (4)
Internet (23)
- Officer And Director Liability For Cyber Security Attacks
- Are You Competent to Practice the New Law of Lawyer Technology Competence?
- Are You Ready For An E-Device U.S. Border Search – AKA Digital Strip Search?
- Attorney’s Liability For Data Breaches
- Carefully Risk Manage Website E-Mail From Strangers Seeking Counsel
- Cyberspace, Malpractice, and You
- Deciding Whether To Use New Technology To Transmit Or Store Confidential Client Information
- Do I Need To Encrypt This Email?
- Does Your Firm Have a “BYOD to Work” Risk Management Program?
- Ethics Still Apply: Even When Your Head Is In The 'Cloud'
- Keeping Up With Social Media Risk Management
- Lawyer Website Disclaimers - Fact or Fiction?
- Risk Managing Advice to Clients on Social Media Matters
- Risk Managing Internet Social Network Investigations
- The Amazing Client Electronic Files
- The Impact of the Internet on a Lawyer's Standard of Care & Professional Responsibility – Part I
- The Impact of the Internet on a Lawyer's Standard of Care & Professional Responsibility – Part II
- The Kentucky Supreme Court Provides Guidance on Investigating Jurors on Social Media
- The Social Media and Lawyer Risk Management
- What Do You Really Know About Social Media Professional Responsibility?
- What Kentucky Lawyers Need to Know about the Ethics and Risk Management of Cloud Computing
- When is LinkedIn Attorney Advertising?
- Your New Client Wants to Pay Your Fee by Crowdfunding on the Internet.
Investigations (3)
Judges (1)
Kentucky Consumer Protection Act (1)
Kentucky Rules of Professional Conduct (2)
Law Firms (15)
- A Guide to Setting Up and Running Your Law Practice
- An Attorney is Leaving the Firm; Now What?
- Beware of Business Client-Imposed Guidelines on Outside Counsel
- Boss Professional Responsibility
- Grabbing and Leaving - KBA Ethics Opinion 424
- Law Firm Breakups
- Mergers – Risk Managing a Firm Merger
- Movin' On Redux
- Movin' On, Professional Responsibility, Risk Management and Lawyer Mobility
- Sharing Offices: The Ethical, Risk Management, and Practical Considerations
- So You've Been Accused of Legal Malpractice? Well, Don't Just Do Something - Sit There!
- The Insurance Marketplace
- The Risk of Leveraging Your Practice with Part-Time Lawyers and Office Sharing
- The Secret Life of Client Files
- Weighty Mail
Law-Related Services (1)
Lawyer Mobility (2)
Lawyer-to-Lawyer Consulting on Ethics and Malpractice Issues (2)
Leap Year (1)
Legal Malpractice Statute of Limitations (5)
- Beware of the Statute of Limitations in Personal Injury Cases When the Injury Occurs Outside Kentucky
- Civil Rule 60.02 Motion Does Not Toll the One-Year Statute of Limitations for Legal Malpractice Suits - KRS 413.245
- Missed Statutes of Limitation, Dog Cases, and Not Knowing What You Are Doing
- The Kentucky Supreme Court Locks Down the Legal Malpractice Statute of Limitations in Abel v. Austin (411 S.W. 3d 728 (Ky, 2013)
- The Supreme Court Clears the Air
Letters of Engagement, Nonengagement and Disengagement (8)
- Beware of Business Client-Imposed Guidelines on Outside Counsel
- Closing Letters: When Does A Client Become a Former Client?
- Letter of Engagement, Hourly Fees (Litigation)
- Letter of Engagement, Hourly Fees (Non-Litigation)
- Letter of Engagement, Optional Clauses
- Letters of Engagement are a Hot Topic with Insurers and Risk Managers
- Letters of Engagement, Contingency Fees
- Special Situations
Limited Liability Forms of Practice (2)
Limited Scope Representation (2)
Litigation (6)
- Beware the Phantom Statute of Limitations in Some UM and UIM Insurance Contracts
- Do Your Clients’ Litigation Funding Contracts Violate Kentucky’s Champerty Prohibition?
- Does Your Client Have Insurance For Litigation Expenses?
- Don’t Trip Over the Recent Kentucky Court of Appeals Interpretation of CR 8.01
- eFiling Rules Summary
- Kentucky Supreme Court in a Landmark Decision Addresses "Suit Within a Suit", Emotional Distress Claims, and Punitive Damages in Legal Malpractice Claims
Mail Risk Management (2)
Malpractice Claim Management (8)
- Hard Economic Times Mean More Malpractice Claims
- How Dumb Is This?: Lawyer Dumps Old Files in Dumpster and Other Dumb Stuff Lawyers Do
- Legal Malpractice in Kentucky: A 1996 Statistical Review of Kentucky Malpractice
- Legal Malpractice in Kentucky: A 2007 Statistical Review of Kentucky Malpractice
- So You've Been Accused of Legal Malpractice? Well, Don't Just Do Something - Sit There!
- Top Tips for Mitigating Malpractice Risk
- What Are a Transaction Lawyer’s Due Diligence Requirements When a Client’s Matter Raises a Suspicion of Illegality?
- What Is Your Duty To Notify Clients Of Malpractice And Other Errors? What About Insurers?
Malpractice Insurance (5)
- Choosing the Right Amount of Coverage
- Failure to Comply with a Malpractice Insurance Policy “Claims Made” Reporting Requirement Could Cost Michigan Lawyer
- Incidents of Potential Malpractice are Not Incidental
- So You've Been Accused of Legal Malpractice? Well, Don't Just Do Something - Sit There!
- The Advantages of Purchasing Insurance Directly From an Insurance Company
Malpractice Trends (5)
- Hard Economic Times Mean More Malpractice Claims
- Legal Malpractice in Kentucky: A 1996 Statistical Review of Kentucky Malpractice
- Legal Malpractice in Kentucky: A 2007 Statistical Review of Kentucky Malpractice
- National Conference Studies Malpractice and Risk Management Trends
- What We Learned About Legal Malpractice in Kentucky in 25 Years
Maternity Leave (1)
Mediation (1)
Medicare/Medicaid (2)
Mental Health (3)
Military Members (5)
- Advising Small Business Service-Disabled Veterans on Federal Contracting Preferences
- Keeping Up With the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Keeping Up with the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA) Is a Risk Management Must for Kentucky Lawyers Whose Practice Includes Divorce Matters
- Maintaining Competency When Advising Servicemembers and Their Families
- Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Signed Into Law
Minors/Clients with Diminished Capacity (1)
Multijurisdiction Practice (1)
Negligent Client Referral (1)
Negotiation and Settlement (15)
- A Checklist for Risk Managing Settlements
- Confidential Settlements, Kiss and Don't Tell
- Developing Malpractice Issues: Judgement Immunity
- Failure to Inform Client of Settlement Offer Costs Lawyer $84,000 in Fees
- Lying – Untruthful Negotiations
- Nationwide Family Lawyers Struggle with Marital Assets Settlements
- New Law Limits Sale of Structured Settlements
- Please Release Me - A Malpractice Trap for the Unwary
- Proving Actual Settlement Authority
- Risk Managing Aggregate Settlements
- Settlement Negotiations and the "Apparent Authority" Doctrine
- State Medicaid Subrogation Expanded
- Structured Settlements
- The Implications of Gallardo v. Marstiller
- Unsettling Settlements, And it's Malpractice Down the Home Stretch
Nonclient Liability (2)
Of Counsel (2)
Older Adult Representation (3)
Paralegals and Legal Secretaries (3)
Powers of Attorney (1)
Pro Hac Vac (1)
Prospective Clients (4)
Real Estate (8)
- Avoiding Malpractice in Foreclosure Suits and Sales
- Don’t Let a Title Opinion Expose You to the Risk of Becoming the Deep Pockets When the Property Is Used as Security for a Business Loan that Goes Bad
- Lead-Based Paint: HUD Issues New Lead-Based Paint Hazard Regulation
- Real Estate – Title Examinations: Does Reliance on an Affidavit of Descent Properly Filed in the County Court Clerk’s Office Meet the Malpractice Standard of Care when Performing a Title Examination?
- Risk Management Lessons Learned from Other Jurisdictions: Negligent Escrow Agent Referrals
- SCAMS: Even Mega Law Firms Can Be Victims of Real Estate Settlement Fraud
- Test Your Title Search Expertise
- The Ten Commandments of Real Estate Closings
Retired Lawyers (2)
Scams (11)
- Are You Ready For The Next Scam Targeting Lawyers?
- Bar Association Scam Warnings
- Beware of Scams
- Do You Know What a “Typosquatter” Is?
- Keeping Up with Lawyer Scams - Cryptolocker and Ransomware
- Lawyer Scams Continue to Plague Kentucky Lawyers
- Phishing Scams
- Scam Professional Responsibility
- SCAMS: Even Mega Law Firms Can Be Victims of Real Estate Settlement Fraud
- The Latest Scam of Special Interest to Lawyers: Client Deposits Lawyer's Trust Account By Phone Then Returns Check and Gets Wire Transfer From Lawyer
- What Are a Transaction Lawyer’s Due Diligence Requirements When a Client’s Matter Raises a Suspicion of Illegality?
Secretaries (2)
Sharing Offices (2)
Social Media (9)
- Avoid Ethics Violations in Responding to Harsh Criticism on the Social Media – If You Respond at All
- Does Your Firm Have a “BYOD to Work” Risk Management Program?
- Keeping Up With Social Media Risk Management
- Risk Managing Advice to Clients on Social Media Matters
- Risk Managing Internet Social Network Investigations
- The Kentucky Supreme Court Provides Guidance on Investigating Jurors on Social Media
- The Social Media and Lawyer Risk Management
- What Do You Really Know About Social Media Professional Responsibility?
- When is LinkedIn Attorney Advertising?
Statute of Limitations (3)
Taxes (3)
Termination of Representation (5)
- Closing Letters: When Does A Client Become a Former Client?
- How to Fire a Client
- Kentucky Lawyer’s Failure to Properly Withdraw from Representation Results in Criminal Contempt Finding
- Risk Managing Withdrawal for a Client’s Failure to Pay Fees
- Withdrawal Without Cause Results in Loss of Kentucky Lawyer’s Fees
Trusts and Estates (2)
Unauthorized Practice of Law (1)
Wills and Probate (7)
- 2001 Malpractice Review: 2001 Federal Tax Law Shakes Up Estate Planning
- Beware of the Easy Stuff, Walk Carefully through Probate
- Boilerplate in Wills Continues to Cause Problems
- Estate Planning Malpractice Traps
- Kentucky Supreme Court Issues Firm Guidance for Lawyers Serving as Both Executor and Attorney for the Estate
- Risk Managing Estate Planning More Complex Than Ever
- Trust And Estates Now Viewed As The Riskiest Practice Area For Malpractice Claims