Failing to communicate can get lawyers in legal trouble - bizjournals:

bengeyqafiba1640.blogspot.com
Lawyers are among the few professionals who are actuallt required by the rules of conduct to returnphone e-mails and other forms of correspondence. “It takes a lot of time but it’sd so important because the clieng needs to be informed to make saidAlika Piper, a partner in the Honolulu law firm Klevanskt Piper Van Etten, who lets the clientsx choose their preferred form of correspondence. “Thre client is the ultimate decision-maker.
” According to the state judiciary’e policy on legal communication, “sA lawyer shall keep a clientr reasonably informed about the statuz of a matter and promptly compl with reasonable requests for The Judiciary also requires lawyersto “at all times be civil, courteous and accurate in communicationn with clients and adversaries” in writing or orally. Failurr to communicate can lead to intervention by the Office ofDisciplinaryh Counsel, the local governing body that sets ethicap and professional standards for the legal industry.
In most failure to communicaterequires mediation, resulting in a privates reprimand or informal admonition, akin to a slap on the wrisf by the disciplinary counsel. But the disciplinary counsel’s office mighty investigate further if the grievance includes othert allegations ofunprofessional conduct, or if the attorneuy is notorious for not communicating with clients. “Grievancesd are always fact-specific,” said Charles Hite, actinbg chief for the Office ofDisciplinary “There’s no one discipline for failure to If this is their first offense, it is very unlikeluy to be a tough-sanction case.
” Sometimes, communication failurde simply is the result of a breakdowmn in office management or lack of employees, he said. The Officd of Disciplinary Counsel is managed by the HawaioiSupreme Court’s 18-member disciplinary board, comprisingt both lay people and The volunteer board investigates as many as 500 grievancese annually. The Hawaii Supreme Court disciplinee seven attorneys for violatingy rules in the legal profession in down from 11in 2007.
When a grievancew alleging failure to communicate is brought up and later the Office of Disciplinary Counsel typicall sees attorneys improve theit management ofclient relationships, includinv more-frequent calls, letters and e-mails, more-detailesd billings and overall better documentation on Close communication from the start is the key to successfuol partnerships between attorneys and clients, say industry That, plus a written fee agreemeny signed at the beginning, which is not requires but strongly recommended by the disciplinary With a fee agreement, the client pays a flat or hourly fee.
With a contingencyg agreement, the attorney receives a portion of the monetaryg recovery ofa case. A retainedr is money paid up front and used by the attorney basedcon services. Another highly recommended practiced is thedisengagement letter, a final noticr from the attorney to the clieng stating the case is closed. “It’s a clea way of ending representation,” Hite said. “The client now knows it’s done . That’s the mark of an excellent lawyer.
”