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Recent Articles from Steven H. Schwartz
Commentary: Maintain your client’s file to protect your client and yourself
It is common for lawyers to treat business practices, like record-keeping, as secondary. Maintaining the client file is required by Missouri ethics rules, and it can help protect lawyers from a malpractice claim.
Commentary: Maintaining competence
Missouri Rule 4-1.1 requires lawyers to maintain competence through ongoing education, proper delegation, technology use, and ethical diligence.
Commentary: Some Scary Scenarios: Know When to Get Out
Here are some scenarios when you should turn down the representation of a client or seek to withdraw from the case.
Commentary: When to report a potential malpractice claim to your insurance carrier
When in doubt, report to your insurer all potential claims against you or your firm immediately. Don’t wait until the potential claim escalates. The failure to do so may prevent you from being covered for the claim.
Commentary: Mandatory mediation clauses in retainer agreements
We often settle legal malpractice claims before they result in a publicly filed lawsuit. Many of our clients, who are lawyers, want to avoid a public lawsuit, but once a suit is filed, they want to be vindicated by a dismissal or a defense verdict.
Commentary: Considerations for buying legal malpractice insurance
While not legally required in Missouri, malpractice insurance is a practical necessity for any lawyer in private practice. Here are some of the primary issues to consider when buying legal liability insurance.
Commentary: Avoiding transactional legal malpractice claims
Here are some suggestions for avoiding malpractice claims arising out of a transaction legal work.
Commentary: Managing Client Expectations
Lawyers cannot guarantee results, but they can manage client expectations so that the client is not surprised by the result. Avoiding surprises is one way to avoid an unsatisfied client. Here are some suggestions for managing client expectations.
Commentary: Strategies for Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
Conflicts of interest pose a significant ethical challenge for lawyers and, if a client is harmed by a conflict of interest, conflicts can lead to a suit for malpractice or breach of fiduciary duty. Conflicts usually fall into one of the three following categories.
Commentary: Mitigating the risk of an impaired lawyer
An impaired lawyer can be a risk for a malpractice claim but can also affect a firm’s reputation and can cause the firm to lose clients. It is crucial for law firms to have strategies in place to mitigate those risks.
Commentary: Retainer Agreements Can Help Avoid Malpractice Claims
A well-drafted retainer agreement can reduce your chances of being sued for legal malpractice or make such a claim easier to defend. A good retainer agree-ment sets forth the responsibilities and expectations of both the client and the lawyer.
Commentary: Planning and strategy errors
Planning and strategy errors can both be a source of legal malpractice claims. Planning and strategy are both important aspects of legal practice, but they have different purposes.
Latest Opinion Digests
- Domestic Relations-Order of Protection-Stalking
- Domestic Relations-Child Custody and Support-Motion for Modification
- Unemployment Compensation-Denial of Benefits-Termination for Misconduct
- Municipal-Government Records-Public Interest in Disclosure
- Criminal Law-Forgery-Evidentiary Rulings
- Criminal Law-Drug Possession-Competency Evaluation
- Real Property-Quiet Title-Default Judgment
- Criminal Law-Municipal Ordinance Violation-Writ of Prohibition
- Torts-Victims’ Compensation Fund-Sovereign Immunity
- Criminal Law-Statutory Rape-Sufficiency of Evidence
- Constitutional Law-Extraordinary Legislative Session-Gubernatorial Authority
Top stories
- Courts dismiss state’s police funding appeal
- Attorney suspended, deemed incapacitated by Missouri Supreme Court
- Judgment for seller in failed real estate deal affirmed on appeal
- Judge reprimanded for misconduct by Missouri Supreme Court
- SCOTUS News: Drugmaker’s ‘induced infringement’ suit comes up short
- SCOTUS News: SEC needn’t show investor losses for disgorgement
- Attorney disbarred for misappropriating client funds
- Telecoms denied right to jury in FCC data security actions
