USPTO practitioners take heed — if you are publicly disciplined on ethical grounds by a State Bar, the USPTO must impose the identical disciplinary sanction as the State Bar. Moreover, Section 11.24 provides practitioners notice regarding the procedure to be followed if a practitioner is disciplined on ethical grounds by another jurisdiction. Those are the
Baker & McKenzie is one. Dentons is as well. So are DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, King & Wood Mallesons, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Squire Patton Boggs. What these venerable law firms all have in common is they are organized as Swiss associations, or “vereins.” A Swiss verein is a formal legal structure recognized under Swiss
“What do you mean ‘my patent lapsed?’ You said You Were Going To Pay The Maintenance Fees.” – Anonymous Client The failure to pay a maintenance fee when you agreed to do so can be a lawyer’s worst nightmare. The nightmare can be made even worse when, according to the patent owner, the patented technology is so
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week, the focus this month on “What They Didn’t Teach You in Law School” is on representing a client with diminished mental capacity. According to the leading mental health organization in the country, 1 in 5 adults in the United States suffer from some form of mental health condition
What They Didn’t Teach You In Law School: Representing Client With Diminished Capacity Read More »
Mark H. Allenbaugh, a former award-winning Adjunct Professor on Ethics in Business and the Professions at the George Washington University, was suspended for two years from practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The suspension came as a result of a reciprocal disciplinary proceeding commenced by the Office of Enrollment and Discipline after the
USPTO Suspends Former GWU Ethics Professor For Two Years Read More »
Attention all shoppers. Legal fees now at deeply discounted prices. The ABA and a cloud-based computing service have launched a new fixed-price program to provide on-demand legal advice for small businesses. The price? A flat rate of $4.95. That is not a typo. In a Thursday press release, the ABA and Rocket Lawyer announced that they have begun testing ABA Law Connect in Illinois,
Black Friday Comes Early: $4.95 Flat-Rate Legal Service Raises Ethical Concerns Read More »
Two Chicago criminal defense lawyers charged with perjury and obstruction of justice were recently acquitted as reported in the Chicago Tribune. The lawyers had been indicted for allegedly coaching defense witnesses to lie under oath. The prosecution pointed to the existence of question and answer scripts seized in a raid of the lawyers’ offices. The
Liar Liar: What May Ethical Counsel Do When Faced With False Evidence Read More »
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This past year featured several high profile cases of domestic violence. Who can forget the grainy footage of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice cold-cocking his wife in a casino elevator? Or charges that football star Adrian Peterson had physically abused his own child—which is even more bizarre
How Disciplinary Authorities Treat Attorneys Convicted Of Domestic Violence Read More »
