Ethics

Are you and your practice properly and sufficiently protected from the growing epidemic of cyberthreats? Probably not! One in three lawyers has suffered a data breach at the hands of cybercriminals, according to the ABA’s annual TechReport.…

Estate planning for clients who have blended or stepfamilies often presents significant and perplexing challenges for estate planners in the substantive planning. As if that was not difficult enough, estate planners may also encounter…

Too often planning articles and conferences use a “Cleaver family” as the touchstone for planning. The reality is that intact married family units constitute a small percentage of the population. Further, a tremendous percentage of the…

Drug use is on the rise in this country and 23.5 million Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs. That’s approximately one in every 10 Americans over the age of 12. No estate, tax or financial planner can assume that a significant…

Practitioners have had to reimagine their firms with remote work environments, and soon a new form of office environment that will include remote work. Practitioners must balance the needs of the partners and staff with the safety and…

Virtually, everything we use every day, from our iPhones to our automobiles, is driven by AI. Its impact on the legal industry is enormous from word processing to computer research to email to Zoom conference calls.

As we make our way through the holiday season, we are reminded of the old adage about avoiding certain subjects such as religion, sex, and politics at the dinner table. Many of us know from experience how difficult it can be to discuss…

As lawyers, our primary obligation is to serve the best interests of the client. One way estate planners do this is by putting a plan in place to protect both the client and the client’s assets in the event of incapacity. In the ideal…

Your law firm email is secure, right? If it were not, you would have issues with your state’s ethical rules requiring you to keep client confidences.

Technology can transform how practitioners provide estate planning services, and even provide new services to offer. Some technologies are already commonly used but might be applied in new ways to make practice more efficient. Other…