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Litigation starts the second you receive a call from a potential new client. During these intake calls, you learn about your clients and their issues. Notwithstanding the information clients provide [...]

Trial lawyers know that misconduct comes in many forms. One of the most pernicious forms of misconduct for trial lawyers is to knowingly assist, permit, or induce a client or [...]

Digital and electronic discovery, sometimes referred to as e-discovery or discovery involving electronically stored information (ESI), can feel overwhelming for even the most seasoned practitioners. This is especially so for [...]

The Florida Bar performs many important roles for the legal profession, and arguably none is more important than lawyer regulation and discipline. One of the fundamental aspects of the legal [...]

As a former defense attorney, I can attest that some defendants and defense attorneys attempt to use obstruction as a litigation tactic. But defense attorneys, like all attorneys, have an [...]

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) large language models (LLMs) have burst onto the legal scene in recent months. These models are starting to disrupt how we research and find the law. [...]

Your website is often the first contact a prospective client has with your firm. Here are some ways to make it user-friendly and informative. It wasn't long ago that prospective [...]

At the outset, we need to be clear that the terms used for children's representatives and the statutes and rules that govern their roles vary greatly among jurisdictions, sometimes even [...]

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. THE INTERSECTION OF THE LAW AND INFLUENCER CULTURE A. Why is My Lawyer an Influencer? III. THE NEW IDEA OF WHAT IT MEANS TO [...]

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION A. TRUTH TELLING AND TORTURE B. WHAT IS TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE? C. ARGUMENT D. OBSTACLES TO THIS PROJECT E. ROADMAP FOR THE REMAINDER I. TALK OF TORTURE [...], This philosophical paper harvests from international criminal legal theory and meta-ethics to reshape and reconfigure our"legal thought and talk," as David Plunkett and Tim Sundell term it, concerning alleged acts of torture authorized and executed under the United States government's watch in Afghanistan. The Rome Treaty authorizes the International Criminal Court's ("ICC") jurisdiction over such alleged war crimes, and the ICC Appeal's Chamber approbated an Article 15 prosecutorial propio motu investigation in March 2020 (later set aside in 2021). Nonetheless, critics of American conduct relative to Afghanistan suggest that the United States continues to minimize or trivialize the ICC's authority, aptness, capacity, and compass when it comes to the alleged post-9/11 CIA perpetration and legal rationalization of "torture." I adopt a meta-ethical approach to query what kind of meta-normative reframing would behoove transitional justice pursuits. This effort requires reevaluating some of the legalist axiomata of American criminal and evidentiary law, if not an exclusively and context-invariantly legalist strategy generally, for at least three reasons, all of which draw inspiration from legal ethicist David Luban's work, the ICC, truth-commissions, and various legal scholars and philosophers. First, as it is often noted, truth-commissions proper approach truth-seeking and fact-finding distinct from prosecution in criminal law: sourced from diverse community members, truth-commissions register grave atrocities by collectively upbuilding that truth through testimonial sharing and communal contribution. I resort to Catherine Elgin's notion of the" true enough" and Heidi Grasswick's conception of "epistemic trust," among others, to unpack this. Second, responsibility is not, as philosopher Iris Marion Young would say, solely framed in a conventionally legalist and causal manner culminating in individualized conviction, but also framed as an accountability forged in prospective political alliance against a "structural injustice." I adopt from Young and the philosophers Robin Zheng and Maeve McKeown to flesh out this nuance. Third, as I remark in conclusion, there is a link to human dignity in "having one's own story" be told and heard, as Luban puts it, that is not easily captured in our adversarial system of law, but which non-legal or legally adjacent for a might adjunctively foster.

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. AN OVERVIEW OF BIRTH SURROGACY A. DEFINITIONS B. THE SURROGACY PROCESS C. SURROGACY LAW II. CASE ILLUSTRATION: STIVER V. PARKER III. LEGAL ETHICS OF BIRTH [...], The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide a guidepost on how attorneys should behave in relation to their clients, the court, and the law. Among other things, attorneys must be competent, diligent, loyal, and avoid conflicts of interest. Family law--where attorneys must often deal with closely-related parties on matters of extreme personal significance--can be an ethical minefield. This is especially true in surrogacy law, an often-unregulated subfield that, at its best, helps create families--and at worst, leads to unethical treatment against pregnant persons. This article considers common ethical questions that arise in surrogacy law, viewed through the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Interviews from practicing surrogacy lawyers from three states help illustrate the challenges inherent to the field.

Family law can be a physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding practice. But when a family law attorney's client, opposing counsel, or the family law attorney themselves are battling addictions, they [...]

By now, every lawyer has heard about the rise of AI--and specifically, about how it can perform complex tasks at a level of quality and speed far beyond anything we've [...]

Summary * To be ethically compliant and protect confidential information, lawyers must read the Terms of Service of the software they use. * Lawyers should hire vendors that have Terms [...]

Summary * Attorneys often overlook the need for succession planning due to their focus on immediate legal matters. * Unforeseen events such as disability, death or sudden retirement can significantly [...]

How do you define "diligence"? When must a tax practitioner be diligent? A tax practitioner faces these questions daily. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "diligence" as a "steady earnest, and energetic [...]

Knowing when to fight a charge, or accept it when the evidence isn't great and you're offered a decent outcome, is a significant part of practicing law. Mike Mbanza, an [...]

Editor's note: The ABA Journal, in partnership with the ABA Young Lawyers Division, is launching Survival Guide, Esq., a new column offering advice for early-career lawyers. The authors of the [...]

Law school spends the bulk of time teaching us legal doctrine. Yet when we graduate and embark on our first legal jobs, we're expected to know much more beyond the [...], * Professionalism goes beyond compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct (or avoiding legal malpractice and law-breaking). * Organization can make or break your career. * Communication is an art rather than a science. It takes a lot of practice.

Summary * Generative AI is highlighted as a valuable tool for automating legal research, drafting documents and improving overall efficiency. * Understand which Model Rules of Professional Conduct are applicable [...]

As my time as Florida Bar president draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the journey we've embarked upon together over the past year. It has been an [...]

At the beginning of my presidency, The Florida Bar created the Standing Committee on Cybersecurity and Privacy Law--the first of its kind--tasked with developing resources for Bar members to achieve [...]