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Practice Area Overview
Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law
Legal professionals must adhere to a code of professional conduct which varies by state. These guidelines regulate the behavior of lawyers and their roles as legal professionals, client representatives, court officers, and public citizens with special duties to uphold justice.
As a largely self-regulated profession, violations of these ethical standards can result in serious repercussions for attorneys and their firms, including disciplinary actions, loss of law license, and potential civil or criminal liability.
These claims can involve:
- Client Confidentiality
- Competence Conflicts of Interest
- Client Solicitation
- Legal Malpractice
- Professional Misconduct
- Transparency
To manage the level of risk, law firms and attorneys should proactively seek professional guidance to implement preventative measures aimed at reducing compliance-related complaints. This process should include a thorough review of retainer agreements, rigorous screening of new cases for potential conflicts of interest, diligent vetting of new clients, evaluation of the firm’s website and marketing practices, and comprehensive training and supervision of associates and non-lawyer staff.
Select a location from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
State
David P. Atkins is a member of Pullman & Comley’s Litigation Department and leads its Professional Liability Section. He practices in the areas of professional liability, commercial litigation, appeals and administrative proceedings. Attorneys, law firms, CPAs and health care professionals seek David to represent them in malpractice, licensing, court sanctions and disqualification proceedings, ethics and disciplinary (grievance) matters. His extensive experience includes handling di...
Founding partner Keith M. Babcock grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and has practiced law in South Carolina for almost 40 years. Now "of counsel" to Lewis Babcock, his practice has consisted almost exclusively of litigation, with a concentration on business disputes, eminent domain, and professional negligence. He has an outstanding reputation for representing real property owners in eminent domain actions, as well as other disputes. He is an emeritus member of Owners' Counsel of America , ...
Art Barsegyan is a senior associate attorney at Pansky Markle Attorneys at Law. He joined the firm in 2012, with a practice focused on legal ethics compliance, State Bar disciplinary defense and attorney admissions, and legal malpractice defense. He is an active member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA); the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL); and the Association of Discipline Defense Counsel (ADDC), for which he served on the Board of Directors in variou...
Diane Bellquist defends licensed individuals and entities before regulatory boards in Kansas and Missouri. With over 10 years’ experience working for Kansas regulatory agencies, Diane uses her insider knowledge and experience to her clients’ advantage. Having previously served as Assistant General Counsel for the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, Diane is particularly experienced with matters involving health care professionals. She regularly defends physicians, chiropractors, physici...
Amber Bevacqua-Lynott is Senior Counsel in the Firm’s Portland and San Diego offices, and a member of the Firm’s Professional Responsibility and Litigation Practice Groups. Ms. Bevacqua-Lynott provides guidance and legal representation to attorneys, licensed professionals, and other business clients, including firms and in-house legal departments. Her practice centers on legal ethics, risk management, and discipline defense. She acts as outside counsel to clients in a variety of i...
Trevor A. Brown represents clients in both litigation and transactions. His real estate experience ranges from resort acquisition and development to acting as trial counsel to establish beach access rights based on Kingdom of Hawaii land use. Mr. Brown's corporate experience ranges from negotiating corporate restructurings to acting as trial counsel to force the break-up of related land development corporations. Mr. Brown counsels trustees and beneficiaries in trust matters and also represent...
Debbie Champion is a founding partner in the firm Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch and Champion. Ms. Champion actively practices in Missouri and Southern Illinois state and federal courts. She has argued before the Missouri Supreme Court and the Eastern, Western and Southern District Missouri Courts of Appeals, and the Illinois Court of Appeals. She has also argued in the federal court of the United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, and the Eighth Circuit a...
Professional Experience Nathan Crystal is a scholar and a practicing attorney. He has advised individuals and entities, including major law firms, on matters of contract law and professional ethics and has lectured throughout the world on these subjects. He frequently serves as expert witness or consultant in multimillion dollar cases. Nathan Crystal is a Class of 1969 Professor Emeritus of Professional Responsibility and Contract Law, University of South Carolina. He taught for 34 years at t...
David J. Elkanich is the Managing Shareholder of Buchalter’s Portland office. He is also a member of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group, and Chair of the Firm’s Professional Responsibility Group. Mr. Elkanich focuses his practice primarily on legal ethics, risk management, and discipline defense. He advises lawyers, law firms, in-house legal departments, as well as students and other professionals, on a variety of ethics issues, including conflicts of interest, confidentia...
Kevin Hickey is a trial lawyer who represents businesses and individuals in complex commercial disputes, including intellectual property, unfair competition, and shareholder and class action litigation. He also represents lawyers and law firms in professional liability matters. Mr. Hickey has handled several landmark cases in Minnesota and regularly appears before the Minnesota Supreme Court and Minnesota Court of Appeals. With more than 25 years of experience handling state and federal court...
With over 20 years of experience in several areas of commercial litigation, Ronald Israel has focused on representing clients in complex matters. He has represented the State of New Jersey in numerous matters, represented three governors, and litigated serious constitutional issues in both Federal and State courts. In the end, though, Ron knows that his job is to zealously advocate for his clients in the most cost-effective manner possible looking for business solutions, not just litigation. ...
Matt Kaiser is the founding partner at KaiserDillon PLLC. He represents individual and small business clients in commercial litigation , government investigations , and white-collar cases . Before starting KaiserDillon PLLC, Matt worked at some of the best litigation firms in the country - Williams & Connolly and Zuckerman Spaeder. He also worked in the Maryland Federal Public Defender's Office and clerked for United States District Judge Catherine C. Blake. Matt is an adjunct professor o...
Wallace is an experienced trial and appellate attorney, with over 60 jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the Southeast, and approximately 100 bench trials, jury trials, and arbitration trials, as well as numerous appeals in the South Carolina appellate courts and the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits. His practice involves complex securities, corporate, and intellectual property cases, as well as news media and First Amendment d...
Craig H. Lubben is a Member of the firm and has been practicing law since 1981. Mr. Lubben’s practice is focused on representing business entities, executives, medical professionals, and other individuals in commercial disputes in state and federal court and in various alternative dispute forums. Employment and Workplace Disputes Mr. Lubben possesses extensive experience representing employers in complex workforce controversies, including harassment, discrimination, breach of fiduciary ...
Thomas F. Maffei is Of Counsel in the firm’s Litigation Department and an experienced mediator. Tom has extensive experience in civil litigation, including legal malpractice cases, bar disciplinary matters, business litigation cases, insurance defense and coverage matters and construction cases. He often acts as a mediator or arbitrator and has been retained as an expert witness on civil litigation and legal ethics issues. Tom is a Fellow of the American College of Trial lawyers, Americ...
Richard M. Maltz is counsel to the Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility Group at Frankfurt Kurnit. He has more than 25 years of experience in the professional responsibility field, representing lawyers in disciplinary matters and lawyers and law firms in partnership disputes. He also handles litigation involving professional responsibility issues, fee disputes, law firm disputes, disqualification, sanctions, and problems in the admission process for law graduates. Mr. Maltz served 1...
Ellen L. Maxwell-Hoffman is a partner in the Charleston office of Bowles Rice. She concentrates her practice in the areas of general corporate and commercial law, including acquisitions and finance, corporate governance, compliance programs and training, business ethics and economic development. She frequently provides legal counsel regarding the West Virginia Governmental Ethics Act, federal and state election law, in particular as to the administration and operation of political action comm...
Mr. Miletich holds the highest rating awarded by Martindale-Hubbell® Law Directory as an AV® Preeminent™ Lawyer. Mr. Miletich has been recognized in Denver’s Top Rated Lawyers by Legal Leaders, Colorado Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Litigation - Defense. Mr. Miletich is an experienced trial attorney. He represents clients involving professional malpractice, insurance matters, products liability, construction defects and general casualty. In...
Ronald C. Minkoff is a partner in the Litigation Group and chair of the Professional Responsibility Group. Mr. Minkoff is one of New York State’s leading practitioners in the field of attorney ethics and professional responsibility, representing attorneys in a wide variety of matters including law firm partnership agreements, attorney departures and lateral hires, attorney discipline cases, legal fee disputes and legal malpractice and professional liability cases on behalf of both plain...
Brian J. Molloy is General Counsel and serves as Chairman of the Board at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. His professional liability litigation practice includes defending lawyers and law firms, both insured and uninsured, from Am Law 100 law firms to solo practitioners, as well as Judges and a number of different insurers including Attorneys’ Liability Assurance Society (ALAS) against claims of malpractice and ethics violations. His business and commercial litigation practice incl...
Karen O’Kasey’s trial practice focuses on defending employers and medical professionals in state and federal courts in both Oregon and Washington. She has represented employers in all types of employment discrimination claims brought in federal and state court. In addition to defending private employers, Ms. O’Kasey has extensive experience defending municipalities against all types of tort claims, including Section 1983 claims, First Amendment claims, and public accommodati...
Ellen A. Pansky specializes in the defense of attorneys, bar applicants and other professionals in regulatory and licensure proceedings and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil legal malpractice actions. She consults with and advises lawyers in legal ethics and risk management. She frequently serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice proceedings. Ms. Pansky is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in the area of Legal Malpractice Law. In 2021, she was appointed to t...
Practice Areas Commercial & Business Litigation Temporary Restraining Orders & Temporary Injunctions Professional Liability Legal Malpractice & Legal Ethics Disqualification Disputes Appellate Practice Emphasis Carol helps businesses and individuals solve their commercial legal problems, everything from addressing disputes before a lawsuit is filed to aggressively pursuing full-blown litigation and trials. A lawyer for more than 20 years, Carol is experienced, creative, tough and ...
Stanley Reed is an attorney who heads Lerch, Early & Brewer's Litigation group in Bethesda, Maryland. His diverse law practice includes the representation of individuals and corporations in complex civil and employment litigation, white-collar criminal defense work, and the representation of lawyers and health care providers in professional responsibility matters. Stan also is noted for his adept handling of politically sensitive cases, grand jury investigations and parallel proceedings. ...
Bryan Reuter concentrates his practice in complex commercial and intellectual-property litigation, including their appeals. Mr. Reuter received his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering, from Tulane University, where he earned the Leon Scherck Award for the highest cumulative average in the School of Engineering. After graduation he undertook various positions with Shell Oil and Shell Chemical Companies, including Operations Manager, for several petroch...
Alec Rothrock’s practice emphasizes legal ethics and attorney discipline defense, and the law of practicing law. He is the author of the book, Essays on Legal Ethics and Professional Conduct in Colorado (Continuing Legal Education of Colorado, Inc. 2003) and a past chair of the Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee. Mr. Rothrock is admitted to practice in the States of Colorado and Illinois (inactive), the United States District Courts for the District of Colorado and the Northern D...
EDUCATION LAW SCHOOL Villanova University School of Law Degree: Juris Doctor ( cum laude ) May, 1972 Class Rank: 7th out of 157 Honors: Villanova Law Review (Associate Editor) Order of the Coif (National Legal Honorary) Graduated with Honors ( cum laude ) Publications: Comment, Adopted Children in Pennsylvania: A Class Without Clause , 17 Villanova Law Review 1066 (1972) COLLEGE Washington University St. Louis, Missouri 63130 Degree: A.B. in Psychology (May, 1967) Honors: Honors Course in Eco...
Willard C. Shih is a shareholder on the Business and Commercial Litigation team at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A., concentrating on professional liability and responsibility litigation and other commercial disputes. In his litigation practice, Mr. Shih represents businesses and individuals in complex commercial disputes, including cases involving corporate and partnership disputes, unfair competition and consumer claims, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and a variety of other matte...
John G. Simon is the founder of The Simon Law Firm, P.C. He received both his undergraduate (1983) and law degree (1986) from Saint Louis University. John handles many types of cases including product liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and commercial litigation. During his career John has obtained more than 150 verdicts and settlements over $1 million, including 15 over $10 million and one over $100 million. On two occasions, John had the highest verdict in the state of Missouri....
Marcy Tench Stovall practices in the areas of professional liability, civil litigation, appellate practice and employment law. In professional responsibility matters, Marcy regularly represents law firms and attorneys in malpractice litigation, as well as licensing, disciplinary and sanctions matters. Since 2000 she has served on the Connecticut Bar Association's Committee on Professional Ethics, which issues opinions on attorney ethics, and currently serves as its chair. Marcy authored "Lawy...
EXPERIENCED, STRATEGIC, RESPECTED, COMMITTED An experienced legal ethics practitioner and commercial and employment litigator, I focus my practice on the provision of legal and government ethics and risk management advice to lawyers, law firms, corporate in-house counsel, government attorneys, elected officials and political parties. I defend, advise, and serve as an expert on all aspects of the law governing lawyers and government officials including the defense of state bar and government e...
My practice focuses on the resolution of disputes, primarily disputes over commercial transactions, business entities, real estate, estates and trusts, and legal professional services. I also work with clients and their adversaries to resolve a wide variety of other civil disputes. Examples of disputes I have handled involving commercial transactions, business entities and real estate include: breach of contract, ownership disputes, dissolution of business entity issues, lender liability, per...
Michael Wiswall is a native Oregonian. He began his legal career at Hart Wagner LLP in 1994, and became a partner of the firm in 1999. For nearly 20 years, Mike’s practice has primarily focused on defending medical malpractice lawsuits throughout the Northwest. Mike also assists hospitals and clinics with pre-litigation evaluations, as well as with their early disclosure and resolution programs. Mike frequently represents physicians, dentists, pharmacists and nurses before state licensi...
Sharon is a world-class litigator, as well as the longtime leader of the firm and current chair of the firm's Litigation Department. She is a riveting trial lawyer and a formidable advocate for clients. Sharon's practice focuses on business litigation (commercial and complex litigation, construction, securities, intellectual property litigation, employment litigation, class action litigation, professional malpractice defense).
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
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