DESCRIPTION
The Ethics of Bad Facts and Bad Law
Navigate the most challenging ethical dilemmas that arise when unfavorable case facts collide with adverse legal precedent, testing the boundaries of zealous advocacy and professional integrity. This essential program addresses the professional responsibility obligations that govern lawyer conduct when client interests conflict with legal realities and ethical constraints. Learn to maintain professional standards while providing effective representation in the face of difficult circumstances that challenge traditional advocacy approaches.
- Understand the limits of zealous advocacy when confronted with adverse facts and controlling legal precedent
- Navigate client counseling obligations when legal options are limited or ethically constrained
- Address competence and diligence requirements in cases with poor prospects for client success
- Balance candor to tribunals with client loyalty when facts or law create professional responsibility conflicts
Speaker:
Thomas E. Spahn is a partner in the McLean, Virginia office of McGuireWoods, LLP, where he has a substantial practice advising clients on properly creating and preserving the attorney-client privilege and work product protections. For more than 30 years he has lectured extensively on legal ethics and professionalism and has written “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” a 750 page treatise published by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Spahn has served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and as a member of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Ethics Committee. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Disclaimer: All views or opinions expressed by any presenter during the course of this CLE is that of the presenter alone and not an opinion of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the employers, or affiliates of the presenters unless specifically stated. Additionally, any materials, including the legal research, are the product of the individual contributor, not the Oklahoma Bar Association. The Oklahoma Bar Association makes no warranty, express or implied, relating to the accuracy or content of these materials.