Ethics
When You Go To Heaven, Will Your Digital Assets go to Hell??
By Nerino Petro at 17 April, 2012, 10:36 am
As a lawyer, I always urged my clients to get their estate planning documents (wills, powers of attorney, trusts) in order and to update them on a regular basis. With the increased use of online banking, bill payment, email, etc. what will happen to these digital assets on your death? Will your significant other, agent, executor or trustee be able to access these assets and fulfill their due diligence requirements to the estate? Or will they face their own version of Hell because these assets were overlooked? Luckily, someone has thought about this and have shared their answer to this issue.
Read More >>Read ‘Avoiding ethical pitfalls with electronic documents’ co-authored with Bryan Sims
By Nerino Petro at 19 July, 2010, 4:22 pm
The State Bar of Wisconsin has published a two part article I co-authored with Bryan Sims of The Connected Lawyer in the July editions of its InsideTrack e-newsletter. Titled ‘Avoiding ethical pitfalls with electronic documents’ , part 1 is on Metadata and part 2 is on Redaction.
Read More >>One Example of When a Judge WILL Order a Computer Forensics Exam
By Nerino Petro at 16 June, 2010, 7:30 am
Great post over at Bow Tie Law’s Blog on one example of when a judge wasn’t hesitant to allow forensic examination of a party’s computer. Needless to say, the conduct of one of the one of the party’s most likely made this decision much easier for the judge (Note to party- don’t lie to a federal judge).
Read More >>Do Lawyers Need A “Stupid” Stamp: Think Before You Post Online To Avoid Ethical Pitfalls
By Nerino Petro at 12 May, 2010, 11:56 am
The lawyers covered are from across the country and the online vehicles of their self destruction vary from blogs to Facebook to commenting on online news stories. And it’s not just lawyers: Judges are getting caught as well. One of the examples involves, I’m sorry to say, an Assistant Public Defender from my home county of Winnebago, Illinois, who was posting about her clients and their cases in very free and open language. Or how about Chicago immigration lawyer Samir “Sam” Chowhan who advertised for an assistant on Carigslist that also included having sex with him as part of the job duties.
Read More >>Opinion of Federal Judge Striking Applicabilty of Red Flag Rules to Lawyers Released
By Nerino Petro at 2 December, 2009, 10:51 am
Law.com, in picking up a story from The BLT: Blog for Legal Times has a post regarding District Judge Reggie Walton’s written opinion of his October 29, 2009 decision that the FTC’s Red Flag Rules did not apply to lawyers and their clients.
Read More >>