For Lawyers Who Lobby (and Their Firms): Legal Ethics and Unauthorized Practice Update

Date & Time: Thursday, February 26, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 8:15 pm

Credit: Credit: 2.0 Ethics Credit Hours

Course Level: Intermediate

Description: Lawyers are subject to the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct, but how those rules apply to lawyers who lobby is not always easy to understand. The applicability of conflict of interest rules, confidentiality, and other ethics considerations are particularly thorny issues. Opinions by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Committee on Unauthorized Practice of Law and the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee have addressed the application of these ethics provisions to lawyers involved in lobbying. This course will help D.C. lawyers and law firms involved in lobbying activities to understand the implications of these decisions. Faculty will use hypothetical scenarios to explore the following important issues and recent developments for lawyer-lobbyists:

• When is lobbying governed by the ethics rules?

• What are the ethical implications for law firms with nonlawyers engaged in lobbying?

• What issues arise for law firms that lobby and have law offices in different jurisdictions?

• How do conflict of interest ethics rules apply to lobbying matters?

• Non-waivable, personal, and other conflicts of interest that come up in the lobbying context

• Lobbying and the rules preventing contact with represented parties

• Confidentiality and attorney–client privilege in the lobbying context

• Advance waivers and lobbying.

Speakers

• Thomas Mason, Harris Wiltshire & Grannis

• Andrew Siff, Siff & Associates, PLLC