SHEILABLACKFORD DEECROCKER BEVERLYMICHAELIS

ETHICSOF PRACTICEMANAGEMENT
I N T H E 2 1 S T C E N T U RY

TOPICS

TrustAccounting Conflicts SocialMedia

Metadata CloudComputing EthicsPotpourri

+BonusPracticeTips!

TRUSTACCOUNTING
KEY CONCEPTS

ALAWYERSHALLHOLDPROPERTYOFCLIENTS ORTHIRDPERSONSSEPARATELY

1. Retainers 2. Settlementproceeds 3. Overpayments 4. Thirdpartypayments

OregonRPC1.151

THIRDPARTYPAYMENTRULES

1. FollowOregon g RPC1.8(f) () 2. Redactbillingstatements 3. Specifywhoreceivesrefund ofunearnedfees

OSBFormalEthicsOpinion2005157

DUTYOFSAFEKEEPING

Depositdaily Protectafterhours Issuereceiptsforcash Protectotherclientproperty

PRACTICE

SmartphoneApps

DesktopDeposit

DONTSPENDWHATYOUDONTHAVE

1. Fundsmustclear 2. Usetheminimum3510dayguideline 3. Bewaryofscams

ACCOUNTTOTHECLIENT

BEWAREOFPREPAIDFIXEDFEES

1. Putitinwriting 2. Earneduponreceipt 3. Subjecttorefund

 Usestageofcompletion Ifhalftheworkisdone, refundhalfthefee Hourlyratecomputations notallowed

HowMuchDoIOweYou? "New"GuidelinesForFixedAndSocalledNonrefundableFees
http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/11oct/barcounsel.html

Designationofaprepaidfixedfee asnonrefundablemaybe misleading,ifnotfalse, fOregon g RPC8.4(a)(3) ( )( ) inviolationof

PRACTICE

Pros
Clientslikecertainty Easytobudget Immediateincome

Cons
Badbargain? Calculatingrefunds Moneyoutofpocket Requirestimekeeping Excessivefee?

Solution? l ?
Fixedfeeintrust Specifywhenearned

DIVISIONOFFEES
1. Disclosure+consent 2. Totalfeecannotbeexcessive 3. Includesreferralfees 4. Getitinwriting!

SeeChapter12,ReferralAgreementBetweenLawyers, FeeAgreementCompendium OSBBarBooks

FEEAGREEMENTMODIFICATIONS

Reasonforchange Explanationofeffect Clientconsent Objectivefairness= Allowablemodification

+ + +

OSBFormalOpinion200597

PROTECTAGAINSTTHEFT

1. Endorseandlockup p 2. Protectcreditcardnumbers 3. Supervisestaff 4. Learnmore

RESOURCES
OregonStateBar
http://www.osbar.org/ethics/bulletinbarcounsel.html GeneralCounsel BarCounselArticles EthicsOpinions BarBooks FeeAgreementCompendium

ProfessionalLiabilityFund
www.osbplf.org DeeCrocker Beverly yMichaelis SheilaBlackford Forms Books InBrief articles CLEs ConfidentialAdvice

OregonLawInstitute
http://bit.ly/cWEmzS OregonRulesofProfessionalConductAnnotated

TRUSTACCOUNTING
FOR SOLE PRACTITIONERS

METADATA
DATA ABOUT THE DATA

METADATAISEVERYWHERE

1 Wordprocessingdocuments 1. 2. Spreadsheets 3. Databasefiles 4. Videosandphotographs 5. Everyelectronicfile!

Pathandfilenames Author Dateandtimestamps Companyorfirmname

Insertedtext Documentversions Comments Headersandfooters

Trackedchanges Templateinformation Undoandredohistory Networkorservername

http://bit.ly/voJOnR http://bit.ly/uxhJgW

ACTCOMPETENTLY

OSBFormalOpinion2011187

USEREASONABLECARE
1. 2. 3.

Preventinadvertentdisclosure Limitnatureofmetadata Limitscopeofmetadata

OSBFormalOpinion2011187

PRACTICE

PrinttoPDF

PRACTICE

Agreenottoreviewmetadata

CONFLICTSOFINTEREST
BEST PRACTICES

MANAGINGCONFLICTS

Establishareliablesystem Captureallparties Knowhow touseyoursystem Knowwhen torunaconflictcheck

ESTABLISHARELIABLESYSTEM
ManualSystems SoftwareSolutions

Thefirstgoldenrule

USEWHATYOUALREADYHAVE

1. MicrosoftOutlook 2. Accessorotherdatabaseapplication 3. SearchableAddressBook

ORBUYAPROGRAM

PC/Windows
AmicusAttorney PracticeMaster ProLaw TimeMatters

Mac
Daylite LAWSTREAM LegalSuite

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/legal_technology_resources/ resources/charts_fyis/casemanagementcomparison.html

USETHECLOUDORSTANDALONESOLUTIONS

Cloud
Clio RocketMatter RTGConflicts

StandAlone
RTGConflicts LegalSoftwareSystems

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/legal_technology_resources/ resources/charts_fyis/coninterestfyi.html

SEARCHINGCASEMANAGEMENTSOFTWARE

CASEMANAGEMENTSEARCHRESULTS

CAPTUREALLPARTIES

Clients AdverseParties RelatedParties

DeclinedClients Prospects ProBonoClients FirmMembers

Thesecondgoldenrule

KNOWHOWTOUSEYOURSYSTEM
William,Bill,orWilly? ElizabethorLiz? FormerNames SSNorTIN DOB 123ABCStreet

Thethirdgoldenrule

Always document yourfile

Addthenew namesfrom yourintake form

PRACTICE

Remembertospecify therelationshiptotheclient

PRACTICE

Circulate NewMatter y ListsWeekly

SCREENANDPREPARE

Screenincominglawyers Prepareoutgoinglawyers Keepyourownlist

Checkconflictshere!

PRACTICE
1. Updateyoursystematclosing 2. Beawareofconsentrequirements 3. Avoidbusinessdealswithclients

KNOWWHENTORUNACONFLICTCHECK

Atfirstcontact Whenthefileisopened Wheneveranewpartyentersthecase

Fourth

CLOUDCOMPUTING
OSBFORMALOPINION2011188

Ethicalduediligenceisallabout doingyourhomework

VETTHEVENDOR
Reputation? p Durationinbusiness? Servingotherlawyers?

VETTHEVENDOR
Securefacilities? Geographicallydispersedservers? Meetsindustrystandards?

UNDERSTANDALLTERMS

Reviewthetermsofservice 2. Readthevendorsprivacypolicy 3. Isthereabusinessagreement?

1.

SHOULDYOU USETHECLOUD?

Anybrowser Anyplatform Anylocation(withInternet) Anytime $$$

Source:Up,upandaway!Thecloudcomputingway!community.ca.com

RESOURCES
Dataprotectionandcloudbackup(video)
http://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2013/07/videodataprotectionandcloudbackup foranysizefirm/

Whatiscloudcomputing?
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/legal_technology_resources/ resources/charts_fyis/saas.html

Getthebook!
http://apps.americanbar.org/abastore/

SOCIALMEDIA

PUBLICINFORMATION

Up for Grabs

OSBFormalOpinion2013189

NONPUBLICINFORMATION

Representedparties Nonrepresentedparties Jurors

http://oregonlawpracticemanagement.com/2013/03/25/theethicsofusingsocialmedia forinvestigation/

YOUR USEOFSOCIALMEDIA
Socialmediaforlawyers:awordofcaution
http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/09nov/barcounsel.html

Sortingoutsocialmedia:tools&etiquette
http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/12may/practice.html

Getthebook!
http://apps.americanbar.org/abastore/ h // i b / b /

ETHICSPOTPOURRI

BEMINDFULOFWHATOTHERSHEAR
Insidetheoffice Outsidetheoffice

BECAREFULOFWHATOTHERSSEE

PROTECTCONFIDENTIALITY DURINGDESTRUCTION

DariksBootandNuke

OFFICESHARINGANDCONFLICTS
1. 2. 3. 4.

Screenforconflictsifyoushareemployees Assurephonemessagesremainconfidential Assuremailremainsconfidential Retrievecopies,faxes,printjobs

OSBFormalOpinion200550

Contact Us
PLF Practice Management Advisors
www.osbplf.org b lf 503-639-6911 - 800-452-1639
Beverly Michaelis Sheila Blackford Dee Crocker beverlym@osbplf.org sheilab@osbplf.org deec@osbplf.org

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